Moonlit Promises
by Yuki Saizuki
Summary: Having successfully stopped the threat of Arius Nova and saving the world from potential destruction yet again, all has returned to normal for the God Eaters of the Far East Branch – more or less. They still fight every day to survive and protect those who cannot protect themselves. In a world where living isn't guaranteed, how, and with whom will they decide to spend their days?
1. Moonlit Desires

This story takes place after the events of God Eater: Resurrection and before God Eater 2. It features a female protagonist OC and potentially other non-canon characters which exist per request of friends. Expect me to be directly taking location names from the game so you know where they are (granted I don't end up making up a place or two on my own at some point). The location of each scene will be at the beginning of each transition in bold so there's no way you can miss it.

Yes. This is a romance story, but expect action too. Trust me, I have no intention of boring you with mushy crap all the time.

Not sure how long this is going to be, but yeah.

Enjoy (hopefully).

* * *

 **Tranquil Temple**

A chilling breeze blew across the terrain of the partially destroyed temple. Snow fell from the night sky, forming a blanket of white over the lonely ruins of the village that once devoted its life to the gods. Despite being Aragami territory, the area managed to exude an aura of serenity and beauty all the same.

At the peak of the temple grounds stood a young man wielding a giant blade over his shoulder. Alone, he stared at the moon that resembled what his home planet used to be. His figure was illuminated by the faint glimmer of moonlight that served as the only source of light for the area.

The lone male was eventually approached by another individual, a young woman around the same age also wielding a weapon of proportionately smaller size, but still rather large all the same.

She didn't speak right away. She only stared for a moment as if taking him in. Her ultramarine hues eventually made their way to the moon which had him so captivated.

A soft smile formed on her lips as bittersweet thoughts crossed her mind. It was likely they were thinking about the same thing. Something that could never be forgotten, and would stay with them for the rest of their lives.

"Soma, the chopper is about to arrive soon," the female called out to him as she began to approach him fully.

"Understood," replied Soma as he turned around to face her – his expression as serious as always.

Now that she had his attention, the girl couldn't help but ask the question that had been on her mind since she arrived.

"Were you thinking about Shio?"

Soma's serious expression softened into something more akin to mild surprise at her inquiry. He then closed his eyes and let out a soft chuckle.

"You already know, huh?"

The girl let out a small laugh of her own as she nodded her head.

"Of course. Even I can't help but think about Shio when I look up the moon. I'm sure everyone feels that way."

The girl looked up at the moon once more, finding yet another smile gracing her lips.

"The moon may not be as bright as the sun, but when darkness falls the moon's light is the only thing that remains. The moon shines quietly in the darkness and offers salvation to those who wish to allow its light to guide their way."

Soma's eyes slightly widened from the girls words, clearly surprised.

"That's surprisingly poetic coming from you."

"Hm? What's that supposed to mean, huh?"

The girl looked at him with a slight pout on her face which was only rewarded with further chuckling from the male.

"Just messing with you. Well... partially."

"Hey! I can be pretty eloquent when I wanna be!"

"Well, I see that now. Looks like I learned something new about you today, captain."

"Captain? C'mon, use my name! It feels all weird and distant when you call me just captain."

"Fine, fine. As you wish, Yuki."

"There we go!"

Feeling incredibly satisfied, a wide grin formed on the first unit captain's lips.

"Because of Shio, I can talk and joke around with you like this now. You always used to push everyone away, but now... Hehehe. I'm so happy to be closer to you. To be friends with you. Remember when you used to be Mister Doom & Gloom?"

A light blush formed on Soma's cheeks as he quickly looked away.

"Shut up..."

Yuki couldn't help but laugh at his undeniably adorable reaction. While she would have loved to tease him a bit further, she resisted the urge to do so.

"I always loved the moon. But now I love it twice as much. Knowing that Shio is up there watching over us even though we're so far apart makes me feel so safe and determined. Shio saved us all, and now it is up to us to pay her back by fighting hard and making sure we don't die anytime soon. When, and if we see Shio again, who knows, maybe the world will be a slightly better place. Until then, let's do our best to fight on and live."

Soma was quiet for a moment before speaking up.

"What's with you today? I'm not used to hearing you talk like this..."

"Hehehe! Sorry, Soma. Am I... weirding you out?"

"Well, no... I actually don't mind it."

"Oh? So you _like_ it? You think I sound all intelligent and sophisticated and stuff?~"

"Hmph, I wouldn't push it," said Soma as he began to walk past Yuki with with a small smirk.

"What? Hey! What's that supposed to mean!" Yuki called out as she began to quickly follow behind him.

"Come on, we have to make sure we're there when the chopper arrives, captain."

"Don't change the subject! And I told you to call me by my name, Soma! You're doing this on purpose aren't you?!"

Soma merely laughed in response to her comments as he continued to walk off as she followed.

Despite seeming completely frustrated with him, Yuki found herself laughing a bit as well. As she said before, she was happy to be able to play around like this with him on occasion.

Being able to have fun this way. To smile and laugh this way.

In a world that was perpetually plagued by looming danger, it was the little things like this that helped people through hard times. They found happiness by appreciating all the good things they had, no matter how small. At the very least, that's what Yuki believed.

That's why she would always fight on, no matter what challenges awaited her. She had to fight, to protect everyone's smiles and whatever small happiness they had.

To give light even in the darkest situations.

To shine just like the moon.

To shine just like Shio.


	2. A Gift for Someone

_"Grandma...?"_

 _"Yes, dear?"_

 _"Could you tell me about my mom and dad? I barely remember them, so..."_

 _"...Well, I suppose you're becoming that age. Very well, I will tell you. What exactly do you wish to know?"_

 _"Well, uh...what kinda people were they? Were they really nice?"_

 _"Well how do you remember them?"_

 _"Uh...well I guess they were pretty awesome. From what I remember they seemed really nice. And I think they loved me too. Maybe... I dunno."_

 _"Hehehe. Yes, they loved you very much. You were their pride and joy!"_

 _"Pride and joy?"_

 _"Yes, pride and joy. They always wanted the best for you. That's why they named you Yuki."_

 _"Huh? What do you mean...?"_

 _"While typically Yuki would mean snow, it actually has a variety if meanings depending on the spelling. The particular spelling of used for yours actually means happiness and good fortune."_

 _"Wow! That's really cool!"_

 _"I'm glad you think so. They named you that in the hopes that you would grow up to be a happy and radiant spirit that would brighten the lives of those around you. They wanted your life to be full of joy and great fortune. People often name their children in the hopes that their name will reflect the kind of person they'll be."_

 _"What about me? Do I match my name?"_

 _"Oh, certainly. The way you bounce around and smile at every given moment. I think you fit your name very well, dear. Your parents would be so happy to see you this way."_

 _"Hehehe! Good! But...what happened to my parents? Why aren't they here?"_

 _"Well..."_

 _"...Grandma?"_

 _"Perhaps we should save that story for another day. I don't think you're old enough to hear it just yet."_

 _"But..."_

 _"I promise, dear. One day you'll know everything."_

 _"Aww...okay..."_

* * *

 **The Den: Yuki's Room**

Yuki opened her eyes and found herself staring directly at the ceiling of her living quarters.

"Hm...that was a weird dream," said Yuki as she lifted up from the bed and yawned.

Thinking back on it, she did remember that conversation she had with her grandmother. Despite being a very long time ago, the memory was as fresh as ever.

"Happiness... and good fortune..."

That's what her name meant. She didn't realize it before, but that meaning subconsciously contributed to her overall personality and demeanor.

No matter what happened, she always did her best to keep a happy or at least confident disposition in the hopes that it would raise the spirits of others. Being a captain now, she viewed that trait of hers as even more important. How would her comrades be able to maintain a strong morale if their leader didn't step up and give them a reason to feel assured?

To be able to motivate people and keep their minds clear.

To remove every trace of doubt and replace it with certainty.

To become the beacon of light that shone through even the darkest situations.

Those were some of the qualities of great leader in her mind.

Suddenly a loud growl resonated throughout the room, prompting the captain to place a hand over her stomach.

"That's me? Jeez, I must be hungry. I don't think I ate much of anything yesterday."

After she finished her paperwork in regards to her last mission she came right to her room and passed out. It was no wonder her stomach was growling so loudly.

"Time to get the day started. Shower, breakfast, and...wait! Breakfast, then shower, and then whatever else happens just totally happens!"

With that stated, the first unit captain jumped out of bed and stretched.

"Let's get this day started!"

* * *

 **The Den: Entrance**

After getting ready for the day, the time had finally come for Yuki's most anticipated event: getting a mission. Oh how she loved going on missions and being able to slaughter those poor monsters known as Aragami. It completely beat just sitting around and doing nothing every day.

Occasionally she questioned if she was weird for to be enjoying missions so much when in reality her life was in danger every time she went out. Even the easiest of assignments could lead to someone dying, and she knew that. She had no intention of being wiped out so easily, however.

No matter how much fun she had, she knew never to let her guard down in Aragami territory.

Tsubaki had assembled the first unit captain herself, along with Alisa and Kota for the mission debriefing.

"A squad encountered a Sariel on their mission, but unfortunately, they were dazzled and it escaped at the last second. The encounter was made in the Old City. You are ordered to find and dispatch the Aragami at once. Dismissed."

After giving the basic rundown of their assigned operation, Tsubaki left three first unit God Eaters to their devices so that they could properly prepare.

"Huh. What an easy sounding a mission. We should be able to finish this in no time at all," said Yuki as she looked over to both Kota and Alisa.

"Yeah! We'll wipe those Aragami out and still have time to spare for some good ol' Bugarally!" Kota cheerfully chimed in.

"Oh, Kota. You and your Booger-rally," Yuki jokingly replied.

"Not Booger-rally! Bugarally!"

"Same difference.~"

"I know you're doing this on purpose!"

Yuki couldn't hold back her laugh as she placed a hand over her mouth and looked away snickering.

"Guys. We have a mission to do you know."

Alisa looked at the two of them disapprovingly as she shook her head. Naturally Alisa served as the voice of objectivity in the midst of their playing around.

"She's right! The faster we get this done, the faster Kota can watch Booger-rally!"

"It's Bugarally, man! Buga-rally! I just..! Gah! Whatever... let's just get this over with."

Kota, having finally given up on making her stop, held his head in defeat as the trio made their way to God Arc storage area.

* * *

 **The City of Mercy**

The Sariel: An Aragami that appeared to be a cross between a human and a butterfly. Despite being a monster all the same, it possessed incredible beauty and grace. It loved toy with God Eaters by flitting through the air and enthralling them with its majestic movements. The beams it was capable of firing from its third eye made it a force to be reckoned with at times.

However, none of these thing were going to matter in the upcoming bout.

Ultramarine eyes carefully followed the lone Sariel slowly moving through the city center. The target seemed highly unaware of the fact that the unit had it completely surrounded and were merely waiting for the proper time to come out of hiding.

The trio had formed something of a delta formation around the Aragami in question to initiate the most optimal surprise attack from multiple sides. The plan had already been discussed and was about to come to fruition.

"Kota, Alisa, are you ready?" asked Yuki over the communicator as she tightly gripped her assault gun while wearing the biggest smirk.

"At your command, Captain," Alisa replied.

"Let's take this Aragami down," said Kota.

"That's what I like to hear. Let's bring the fire!"

Wasting no time, the three of them jumped out of their respective hiding places in unison and began to fire at the Sariel from multiple angles. Due to the Sariel being an Aragami that was difficult to damage while it was floating, it was imperative to shoot it down before going in for the kill.

The plan seemed to be going perfectly. The Sariel was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of bullets being showered upon it all at once and was struggling to even move from its current spot. The protective armor around its skirt and leg areas were beginning to shatter and break, and the bullet-rain was forcing the Sariel to sink closer and closer to the ground.

"Hahaha! What's wrong Aragami? Having a hard time mo-"

Yuki's statement was cut short the moment she realized there was nothing coming out of her gun anymore. Did she seriously use up all her oracle that fast?

"How can I be out of bullets? Jeez. Well, no matter. Let's do this the good ol' fashioned way! Alisa! Kota, I'm going in. Keep those shots coming!" Yuki called out.

"Understood!" the the two of them replied in unison as Yuki switched over to her short blade and began to advance towards the Aragami.

The adrenaline pumping through her veins was indescribable.

The excitement she felt while fighting.

The rush she felt during combat.

It all sometimes made her wonder if she was having just a bit too much fun.

By the time Yuki was within range, the Sariel had found a new home on the ground thanks to Alisa and Kota's support. With its armor almost completely annihilated and its aerial grace now gone, all that was left was to finish it off.

The gunfire subsided, and the captain stood in front of the Sariel with her short blade ready to administer the killing blow.

"Looks like dinner is almost ready! Time to finish the slaying.~"

Brandishing her blade, Yuki aimed for one of the Sariel's exposed weak points. A large splatter of blood flew from the Aragami and onto the dirt, painting it with splotches of scarlet.

And just like that, the mission was complete.

"That was totally easy. Because we are totally talented!"

As Yuki said this, Alisa and Kota walked up behind her.

"Yeah, definitely. But don't you think is was bit too easy?" Alisa questioned as she looked over the felled Sariel.

"I guess. But does it really matter? We won! Let's call up Hibari and let her know," said Kota. Of course he didn't care, he just wanted to head home and relax.

"Hm..."

Yuki looked over the the Sariel just as Alisa had before her. It did die without putting up too much of a fight. Or really...any fight. Had it already been weakened before they arrived? There was no way of knowing for sure.

"Well, regardless. A win is a win. Let's tear out this core and get out of here. I don't wanna be in Aragami territory for longer than I have to be," Yuki said as she rose her God Arc and began to devour the Sariel to rip out its core.

In the back of her mind, she really hoped no more crazy stuff was going to start up. The Far East Branch already had too many problems back to back in the past.

As much as she liked fighting and killing monsters, even Yuki needed a break from all the drama.

* * *

 **The Den**

"Now that the paperwork is done, what are your plans?"

Yuki posed the question to both Alisa and Kota before moving to take a sip of her soda.

"Well you know what I'm gonna do! Watch some Bugarally!"

The typical Kota response.

"I was thinking of heading to the training grounds for some practice. There's always room for improvement," Alisa answered.

"As expected from both of you. I, on the other hand, have no idea what my plans are. I guess I'll just kick back and relax until something happens. Maybe if I get bored enough, I'll join up with one of you guys. In any case, later!~"

Taking a final swig of her soda, Yuki tossed the can into the trash and waved her comrades off before heading off towards the section elevator.

Upon reaching her desired location (the veteran's section), Yuki began make her way towards her room. That is until she was stopped by none other than Sakuya who happened to be coming out of her own room at roughly the same time.

"Oh! Yuki. So you're back from your mission already?" Sakuya inquired, giving the purple-haired female a warm smile.

"Hehe, yeah. It was pretty easy. Alisa, Kota, and I had to fight a Sariel. It wasn't much a fight."

"Well, I'm glad to hear it. I was actually just thinking about you."

"Me? What for?"

"I actually wanted to spend some time with you."

"Ooo!~ Doing what?"

"Well..."

* * *

 **The Den: Sakuya's Room**

"So I just put this here... and do that...?" Yuki asked as she carefully pulled the thread and needle through the fabric in her hands.

"Yes! Perfect! Wow, you're way better at the hemstitch than I was when I first tried," Sakuya praised which brought a smile to Yuki's face.

"Really? Well I suppose you just did a really good job of explaining."

"Oh, you. You flatter me."

"I'm just being honest."

"Well, thank you."

"No problem!~"

Yuki focused her gaze back on the handkerchief in her hands and resumed carefully stitching.

Sakuya said that she wanted to spend time with her. Imagine Yuki's surprise when Sakuya just wanted to sit around sewing things together. She actually thought it was pretty fun. The feel of satisfaction that came from making something on your own was always welcomed. It was even better when said thing was actually pretty good.

According to Sakuya, making handkerchiefs was one of the most basic things anyone could make, but that didn't mean they couldn't look nice. For now, Yuki was't going to be making anything extravagant as she was just practicing with plain white material until she got the hang of things.

"Sakuya, are you perhaps trying to get better so you can make a handkerchief for Lindow by chance?"

A light laugh escaped past the woman's lips as she immediately nodded her head.

"You caught me red-handed."

This immediate confession caused Yuki to laugh a bit herself.

"I knew it! Hehehe. Well you did say you wanted to get better at making things like clothes, too. I guess it would make sense for you to start off with something simple like this before working your way up."

"Mhm! That's right. I know I'm not the most amazing at stitching, but I'm getting there. I just thought it would be nice to share this hobby of mine with someone. Who better than you?"

"Well I'm glad you asked. I'm really enjoying myself."

"Perhaps you should try to make a handkerchief for someone too."

"Hm? Why?" asked Yuki with a slight tilt of her head.

"Well, if you're working hard on something for someone else, then you tend to put forth even more effort than you would just doing it for yourself," Sakuya explained.

"That makes sense," Yuki agreed.

People did tend to work harder when it was for other people. If she made a handkerchief for herself and it sucked, she probably wouldn't care that much because she made it and therefore she would like it by default, probably.

However, if she made the handkerchief for someone else then she would be more prone to want to make it as perfect as possible so they would love it. Sakuya's logic was sound.

"Do you have anyone in mind that you would like to make a handkerchief for, Yuki?"

"Um..."

Did she? Honestly, she wasn't entirely sure. She seriously had to think about this.

Someone she would want to make a handkerchief for...

Did she honestly know anyone who would need it, or at the very least wouldn't mind having it around?

The captain's mind focused on thinking about everyone she knew. She took everything about them into consideration. Personality, habits, hobbies, how close she was to them and...everything.

Yuki thought long and hard about it, but the same person kept coming to mind every time.

"So...ma?" she said, almost in an unsure tone.

"Soma? Yes, I think that would be a nice gift for him," Sakuya agreed, giving Yuki a bit more confidence in her choice.

"Yeah! Me too. I can see him using one for things. Like maybe he could use it to clean his reading glasses...or something."

"Exactly. So, it's decided. You should make a handkerchief for Soma. I'm sure he'd appreciate it."

"Really? Well, I hope so. I'm gonna have to practice really hard before I can focus on making his, though."

"In that case, you should drop by when you can and we can practice together. How about it?" offered Sakuya, giving the other female yet another warm smile.

"Yeah! Let's do that! Kicking Aragami butt! Making handkerchiefs! I can do anything if I set my mind to it!"

Shared laughter filled the room shortly after this comment was made, and the two of them resumed focusing on their practice.

What Yuki had said wasn't exaggeration. When she set her mind to something, she almost always succeeded. No matter how difficult or trivial the task, Yuki would always put her best foot forward. That's why she was going to try hard to make Soma a handkerchief that he would be proud to use.


	3. Love & Peace

**Infernal Subway**

"You won't escape me, Aragami!"

Footsteps echoed throughout the blazing hot subway as the first unit captain relentlessly followed behind a Vajra that was trying to escape. She had been out in the field for under five minutes and was making pretty impressive progress despite being all by herself.

The current mission was to subdue a Yaksha and Vajra in the subway remains. While the Yaksha had yet to show itself, the Vajra was already on the brink of death and was likely going to be well disposed of before the second Aragami arrived.

"Mid-sized Aragami en route. ETA is approximately two minutes in counting. It's most likely the Yaksha. Try to finish the Vajra off as soon as possible to avoid having to deal with both together. Transmitting coordinates to you now!" stated Hibari over the radio.

"Roger!"

Checking the data sent by Hibari while she pursued the Vajra, she saw that the target Aragami was actually moving in the direction of the area in which the Yakshawas going to arrive.

"This might actually work out. If I can take out this Vajra, I'll be right where I need to be when the Yaksha arrives. Time to pump this into high-gear!"

Leaping into the air, Yuki readied her God Arc for devouring. Gliding downward at rapid speed, the Aragami soon found itself trapped between the jaws of the Arc. Its fate was sealed, and the arc was having the time of its life feasting up the flesh of tiger-like beast.

That one last move was all that was needed to finish it off.

"Target eliminated! Now all that's left is to deal with the incoming Yaksha! Brace yourself for arrival."

"Roger that, Hibari!"

Taking a moment to quickly rip out the core of the Vajra, Yuki took this as her chance to formulate a sneak attack on the Aragami that was set to arrive shortly.

First, she needed somewhere to hide while she waited for it to appear. There weren't too many place that could be used for cover, so she would have to make due with using the passages to her advantage.

The Yaksha was estimated to appear at point D. If she hid in the passage between points C and H, it would provide her with enough coverage to avoid being spotted immediately by the primary target upon its arrival.

"All right. Let's just mosey on over here and play the waiting game."

She initiated her plan immediately.

The young captain positioned herself in the passage near the arrival point of the Yaksha. There, she waited patiently for her target to make its debut.

Nearly a minute passed afterwards, and Hibari radioed in to provide an update on the enemy status.

"The hostile has broken through. They're in combat range. Coordinates are the same as before."

"Understood, Hibari."

The captain waited in anticipation for the Yaksha to close in. However at that very moment, Hibari radioed in not even two seconds later with a notable sense of urgency in her voice.

"Surprise Aragami inbound! I-It's huge! ETA: thirty seconds! I'll send you the predicted arrival coordinates! Be careful out there!"

"Uninvited guests, huh? I hate party crashers."

Yuki wasted no time in checking the data sent to her. The surprise Aragami was going to be appearing near point E.

"That's a reasonable distance away, but..."

She could hear the Yaksha walking down the adjacent passage. It was only a matter of time before it was going to come within view, but she knew very well she wouldn't be able to finish it off in thirty seconds. She had to completely change her plan.

Silently, Yuki backed further into passage she had stationed herself in, moving all the way to the next area and claiming a new position at point G.

If she was lucky — which she often was — the Aragami would continue to move forward without turning into the area she was in. In the best case scenario, the two Aragami would meet and fight each other.

Aragami were enemies to everything, even each other. Rather than deal with an unidentified Aragami and a Yaksha at the same time, it would benefit her more to just let them murder one another.

No matter the result of their bout, she would move in the slay the remaining beast. That was her new plan. There was no more she could for the time being but wait.

The sound of the moving Yaksha eventually became more and more distant, indicating that it was in fact moving forward as she had hoped.

She had mentally been counting down the seconds until the unidentified Aragami's arrival. It was going to be arriving shortly.

"Three...two...one..."

Just as she reached the final number, Hibari radioed in with a status update.

"The hostile has arrived! Wait...what?"

Even though she couldn't see her face, Yuki could tell by her voice alone that something wasn't right.

"What's going on, Hibari?"

"This is no Aragami you've fought before. They call this one Muse."

"Muse?" Yuki repeated questioningly.

"Yes. I don't know too much about it. But I do know it is an Aragami that once appeared several years ago, but has been missing ever since. This is its first appearance in over five years. I wonder why it decided to show up now of all times. "

As she said this, a humming sound began to resonate throughout the subway remains. It was unbelievably beautiful. Too beautiful. Yuki was certain such a voice could lure in just about anyone, or anything. It had to be that new Aragami.

"I hear singing, Hibari. Is that the Aragami?"

"Yes. Muse was known for luring people in with its singing."

"I see, I wonder if the Yaksha is going to be drawn in by it..."

"That's very likely. Its song serves as a means of bringing in unsuspecting victims. They called it the Song of Death. Considering how keen the Yaksha are when it comes to sound, it will most likely be playing right into the Aragami's hands."

"A singing Aragami. There's an Aragami for everything nowadays. Okay, I'll stay back here for the time being and observe."

If this was some new kind of Aragami that she had yet to face, the dumbest thing she could do was try to fight it without having some understanding of its combat capabilities.

"Of course. I'll keep you updated on anything new that happens."

"Roger," said Yuki channeling out as she began to move back to her previous location. She was curious as to what this Muse thing looked like and its potential characteristics.

Poking her head out from the passage, she could see the Yaksha moving forward very slowly in dazed manner. Suddenly it just stopped.

At that very moment, Hibari radioed in.

"Muse is leaving the area. I... I have no idea why, but you are ordered not to pursue. Finish your primary objective."

Wait what? This thing waltzed in here, sang a little death song, and just decided to leave? What the hell was going on?

"Understood, I'll take out this Yaksha," said Yuki as she readied her assault gun and began to move out of hiding.

Like an assassin, she began to approach the monster from behind. While she was a bit disappointed she didn't at least get the chance to see that new Aragami, she was happy that she would be able to make it home without incident.

Once she was fifteen meters away from the beast, she began to rapidly fire a number of divine bullets at it from behind. Strangely enough, even though it wasn't under attack, it made literally no effort to do in anything in response.

Where had she seen this before?

As she fired bullet after bullet until she eventually ran out of oracle, an image of the Sariel from her last mission came to mind. Was it possible that the Sariel had an encounter with Muse before they had even arrived.

The Yaksha soon fell to its knees, leaving it open to further attack.

Shaking her head, she focused on completing her primary objective. If her assumption was correct, then she would be able to just walk up to this Aragami and kill it with no hassle.

Switching her God Arc to blade form, Yuki dashed over to the Yaksha and jumped in front of it. She didn't attack immediately. No. She only watched and observed the beast out of curiosity. It was risky, but she would have loved to have some information to take back regarding this new threat.

Despite standing directly in front of the creature and staring right at it, the Yaksha acted as if she weren't even there. It was almost like it couldn't see nor detect her presence.

"How strange..." she thought as she raised her short blade, ready to finish the monster off. She had no further reason to keep it alive as she felt her curiosity was mostly satisfied.

"Buh-bye."

And with that she brandished her blade towards the Yaksha.

* * *

 **The Den**

The moment she returned to base, Yuki filed her report in regards to everything that had transpired during the mission. Afterwards, she found herself messing around on the terminal in her room. If she wanted more information on this thing, the most ideal place to check would be the Norn.

It didn't take too long for her to find the data entry she was searching for, however the results were less than fruitful.

"This is pretty much everything Hibari already told me. I guess this was a complete waste of time."

Yuki found herself sighing a bit out of disappointment. She had hoped to educate herself more on the creature, as she felt like there would be a time she had to encounter it again. However, maybe even the higher ups were clueless about this thing and had nothing to add in terms of information.

"Or maybe they're keeping something under wraps," she said to herself.

She hadn't been a God Eater for too long, but she had been one long enough to know how shady they could be with information. While you could find most things on the Norn, a lot of information was kept purely confidential. If that was actually the case, then it was out of her power for the time being.

"Oh, well. It is what it is."

Accepting the situation for what it was, Yuki merely walked over to her bed and plopped down so she could stare at the ceiling.

She remembered how she had hoped nothing serious was going to happen when she had that mission against the Sariel. Though with the current situation, she had the feeling that her hopes would not come to fruition.

"There's always something happening... Can't we just have... I dunno.. one year of just nothing happening other than our easy day to day stuff?"

That was probably too much to ask for. As much as she would love to just live a life where she went out and did simple missions and killed things, it was never going to be like that. She knew and accepted it. As long as Aragami existed, there was always going to be something bad happening somewhere in the world.

Yuki enjoyed the thrill of combat and fighting against Aragami, but that was because she could kill them. It wasn't the same for the normal people who had literally no means of protecting themselves. God Eaters existed to protect the weak, but God Eaters weren't perfect. God Eaters couldn't save everyone.

If she could live in a world with literally no Aragami, that would be pretty awesome. Sure there'd be no reason for her to fight monsters anymore, but at least she could have a life where she didn't have to worry about looking over her shoulder all the time. At least there wouldn't be so many things trying to kill her and everyone else.

But unfortunately, that time had passed. This was the life of humanity now. Sitting around knowing that at any given moment you or someone you love could probably get wrecked by some monster and die. Talk about depressing.

In a world where living isn't guaranteed, how, and with whom will people decided to spend their days on this sinking ship of a planet? Will they live in fear, pondering their eventual demise? Or will they take each day as it comes, and live it to the fullest despite the abysmal circumstances of the world?

"Why am I thinking about this, anyway? I need to stop getting all dark. I need to get rid of all the bad thoughts, with good ones... like that one song I heard by chance. How did it go...? I think it was something like..."

 _Someone has said that if there is love, there is peace..._

 _And while some people agree, there are others who hold doubts..._

 _Because there is suffering..._

 _When I hug you close..._

 _In the gentleness of those arms..._

 _I feel peace..._

"Yeah, something like that. I like that song. It makes me happy. Even in a world full of suffering, as long as you have someone you love... you'll always be at peace. What a beautiful message..."

Yuki believed those words to hold truth, even in the current state of their world. Looking around at everyone in the Den, they all manage to be happy somehow because they're surrounded by people they love. She felt the same. Being around her friends that she loved so dearly always made her feel at peace.

Family love...

Friendly love...

Romantic love...

All kinds of love brought about happiness.

After all, there couldn't have been a single person on this planet who didn't want to be loved in some way. Just knowing that someone cared about you could bring joy. Though, those were her personal views on the subject.

Yuki felt a sense of calm wash over her as she hummed the melody of the song to herself. Before she knew it, she started to drift off, eventually falling into a blissful sleep.


	4. Just Another Day

Several days had passed since the partial encounter with the Aragami known as Muse. Much to the captain's delight, everything had been proceeding normally. The missions were completely average and there weren't any reports of anything happening out of the norm. In short, things were about as perfect as perfect could get in their crapsack world.

Despite Muse not making anymore appearances, Yuki's mind occasionally drifted off towards the thought of it suddenly showing up again at some point. There was no way she could easily dismiss how strange it all was. It showed up, the Yaksha started to act funny, and then it just left. She just couldn't make sense of it.

Even stranger than that, she hadn't even been at least called up to discuss her experience in person. At the very least, she expected that much. However, nothing happened. Things just continued as if Muse didn't even exist.

Then again, there was always a chance that they were looking into it and just didn't disclose any information yet. Whatever the case, Yuki was going to try her best to not stress about it and just deal with the hurdles as they came.

She could sit around and not think about it, but she knew in the back of her head that the Aragami was going to show up again. She didn't know when. She didn't know why. But she felt like it was definitely going to happen at some point.

* * *

 **The Den: Soma's Room**

"Mm..."

A cold sensation brushed upon young captain's cheeks, bringing her peaceful sleep to an unexpected end. As her eyes opened they soon found themselves locked on to the blue oculars of another person holding a cold can of juice up to her face.

"Soma...?" questioned Yuki as she lifted up and grabbed the can of juice from the male's hand.

"You fell asleep," said Soma as he took his seat beside her on the couch.

"Really? When did that happen?"

"About an hour ago. We were reading, you suddenly said you wanted to 'rest your eyes', and then you ended up falling asleep."

"Mm. Yeah, that sounds like me."

Over the past several days, Yuki spent her free time hanging out with her comrades. Sometimes she would practice her sewing with Sakuya, watch Bugarally with Kota, train with Alisa, and so on. All in all, everything was generally peaceful.

Before she had ended up falling asleep, she and Soma were reading books together in silence. That's how they often spent their time. There wasn't really much of a need for them exchange words. They just enjoyed each other's presence.

Yuki opened the can of juice and slowly took a sip before resting her head on Soma's shoulder.

"Pillow..." she said as she closed her eyes and smiled softly.

A light shade of red formed on the dark-skinned males cheeks as she did this.

"Get off of me. I'm not your pillow."

"But you are my pillow. That's why I'm wearing your hoodie," said Yuki as she used her free hand to tug on the dark blue hoodie draped over shoulders. She actually pestered him to let her wear it, saying something along the lines of her wanting to be indirectly hugged by him.

"What does wearing my hoodie have to do with anything?"

"Well... I wanted to get closer to the pillow, so I'm wearing the pillow case."

Soma stared blankly at her for a moment before raising his hand and flicking her on the forehead.

Yuki immediately placed her hand over the place she was flicked and pouted at the male.

"What was that for?"

"For being a dumbass."

"Dumbass? But I'm at the very least your dumbass, right?"

"T-That's..."

And just like that, the assault corporal's cheeks reddened yet again as he quickly looked away from her.

"What are you even talking about?"

"You're the only one who calls me a dumbass. So when you say it, it makes me feel special. Like... I'm your dumbass. Or something like that.~"

"Ugh..."

"Soma?"

"Why do you always do this?"

"Do what?"

"You know damn well!"

Yuki smiled, taking yet another sip of her juice. She really did love teasing Soma. She almost never passed up an opportunity to get him all embarrassed. To her, it was the cutest thing ever.

"I hate you..." Soma said as he exhaled deeply, picking up his book and resuming where he left off.

Only a small laugh was given in response to his comment as the female closed her eyes and continued to get comfortable on his shoulder. This, however, what short-lived as her eyes opened not even three seconds later.

"Soma!" said Yuki, suddenly jerking up as if she had just remembered something.

"W-What...?"

Soma asked with confusion plastered all over his face.

"You forgot something!"

"I forgot something?"

"Yeah!"

Yuki quickly rose from the couch, placing her juice on the table. She then moved in front of Soma, reaching for the pair of glasses hanging from the collar of his shirt.

"You forgot your cute little nerd glasses! Here you go.~"

The captain carefully pushed the glasses onto the males face and then pat him on the head, all while wearing the biggest grin.

Soma didn't say anything in reply. All he did was stare at her blankly for a moment before quickly looking down and adjusting his glasses.

"Thank you," were the only words that left his mouth as he continued to read.

"Thank you? Lame. I was hoping you'd get mad or something. Oh well. Can't win all the time."

And with that, Yuki took her place back on the side of him as she resumed to drink her can of juice. While she could sit around and bother him for hours on end, she didn't want to keep him from fully enjoying his free time.

Thus she resigned herself to sitting quietly and finishing off her drink. After doing that she snuggled up in Soma's hoodie and resumed lounging about on his couch.

"Are you about to go to sleep again?" Soma asked, looking at her from the corner of his eye.

"Mhm."

"Can't you fall asleep in your own room?"

"Well, if I do that, then I'd have to give your hoodie back. But I don't wanna do that. It's actually quite comfortable."

Well, that was only part of the reason. She just enjoyed being in his room in general. He didn't have the most interesting room, but she certainly did love being surrounded by his scent. It was calming to her and had tendency for knocking her out if she wasn't actively doing something. If she wanted awesome naps, this was the place to go to.

"Hmph. Whatever..." Soma replied in his usual apathetic manner.

He acted like he didn't care, but Yuki could see the small smile formed on his lips. Was he enjoying this more than he was letting on? Moreover, that smile was absolutely adorable combined with the nerdy glasses.

She then suddenly had a realization.

Did she think everything about him was cute in some way? When she thought about it, she couldn't recall a time where she didn't classify something about him as being remotely cute. At first, she was just saying it just to be completely annoying, but eventually she actually started to believe it.

Was it weird she thought of him like that? Honestly, she wasn't too certain. Maybe she could ask another girl what they thought. If she wasn't the only one who thought he was cute then it wouldn't seem as strange, and she wouldn't feel weird about it.

But then again...

"Why should I care?" she thought.

So what if she thought he was cute? Did it really matter if she was the only one who thought that or not? Overall, she just enjoyed being with him.

Teasing him.

Reading with him.

Sitting with him.

It didn't matter what they were doing, really. As long as it was with Soma, it made her happy...for some weird reason. Honestly, she couldn't imagine life without him at this point.

He had warmed up considerably after everything that happened since she had became a God Eater. He was much more approachable and actually nice to be around. He was still Soma, but he was a better Soma. A happier Soma.

"Soma..." she called out softly, lifting up from her lying position.

"Hm?"

Soma's attention temporarily averted from his book and towards her as he gave an inquisitive glance.

A small smile crept upon her lips as she said...

"You're my best friend in the whole wide world.~"

"W-W-Wha-"

Even though Soma wasn't drinking anything, he suddenly seemed choked up. Was what she said that out of the ordinary? She didn't think so.

Eventually, he managed to speak.

"Where is there this suddenly coming from?"

"Well... I was just thinking about how much I like hanging out with you. I mean, we're doing basically nothing right now and I still feel incredibly satisfied. Just being in the same room as you makes me happy most of the time. So I just came to the conclusion that you're my best friend. I don't really feel this way with anyone else, so it's the only thing that makes sense."

"..."

Soma seemed to be at loss of words as he sighed heavily and closed his eyes.

"When you word it like that, it almost sounds like..." he paused, sighing yet again.

"Liiiiike...?" Yuki repeated, smiling at him as usual.

"..."

He fell silent and sighed for a third time. It only made Yuki twice as curious as to what was going on through his mind. She was really starting to think she said something out of the norm.

"Soma?"

"...You're my best friend, too," he suddenly said, as he raised his hand and started to gently rub her on the head.

A small giggle sounded from the captain as she happily accepted his actions as though she were a child. She didn't even care about him not finishing his previous statement anymore. Being accepted as his best friend was significantly more important.

"You're such a dumbass," said Soma with a light chuckle.

"Yeah! Dumbass Yuki!" She wholeheartedly agreed. Oh how she loved it when he called her a dumbass. She viewed it less as a derogatory insult and more as term of endearment.

Perhaps it was because of how happily and readily she accepted this label, but Soma ended up just laughing even more. He stopped rubbing her head and suddenly flicked her on the forehead for a second time.

"Take your nap, dumbass. I'll be here when you wake up."

Holding the spot that was flicked by him yet again, Yuki warmly smiled at the assault corporal.

"Promise?"

"Well, duh. It's my room. Of course I'll be here."

"Point! Okay, see you when I get up!"

And with that, the first unit captain immediately fell back on the couch and started to snuggle with the Soma's hoodie. A relaxed sigh came from her as she happily inhaled the scent from his article of clothing and closed her eyes. She wouldn't exchange these random moments they shared for anything else in the world. Not even ice cream, or any other of her favorite foods.

* * *

 **The Den: Entrance**

"Is it just me or have these Aragami been getting more aggressive?"

"Yeah, I know what'cha mean. There's been way too many emergencies near the Outer Ghetto wall."

"I wonder what's making them rampage so much. Everything was just fine a week ago."

Yuki quietly sat at the table in Den's entrance, eating a batch of cookies that Kanon had prepared for her earlier that day. She just so happened to overhear the conversation of two nearby God Eaters. Needless to say, it caught her attention.

Randomly rampaging Aragami? For some reason, she had the sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with Muse. Though she had no proof. There hadn't been any reported sightings since her last slight encounter with it, and that was at least two weeks ago.

But still, regardless of the reason behind the strange activity among the Aragami populace, it was still alarming information all the same. Hopefully, they would be able to nip it in the bud before something bad happened.

"Oh! Cookies! Can I have one?"

"Hm?"

The captain's train of thought was suddenly impeded upon, by the voice of a young woman. Upon looking in the direction of the voice's source, she took notice of a female who seemed to be roughly around her age, despite the gray hair.

"Uh, sure. Go ahead," Yuki said as she motioned her hand over the plate of cookies in front of her.

"Really? Wow, you're just as nice as everyone says you are. Thanks!"

The gray-haired female wasted no time in swiping up one of the cookies and taking a bite into it.

"Mmm~ Delicious. Did you make these?"

"Nope. Kanon made them for me."

"Kanon?"

The female grumbled a bit before going on to say "Kanon never makes me cookies. But, we're not really all that close, so... I guess that makes sense."

As Yuki watched the female, she couldn't resist the urge to just come out and ask the question that had been on her mind since the random female showed up.

"Who are you?"

"Me?" the girl asked, pointing to herself.

"Well, you're the only one here that I'm talking to...so...yeah. You."

"I'm Sora! Sora Kobayashi! I'm really good friends with Alisa, but I've never had the chance to talk to you. So it's nice to finally meet you, Yuki!"

"Oh. Nice to meet you, too.~"

It didn't at all surprise her that this Sora person already knew who she was. Who didn't know her at this point? And the fact that she was apparently on good terms with Alisa only further solidified her knowledge.

"Man, I am really exhausted. Getting worked to death almost every day is not fun."

Sora casually took a seat down across from Yuki as she picked up another cookie and started to eat it.

While Yuki wanted to make a comment on how she said Sora could only have one cookie, she didn't really care enough to stop her since she didn't mind sharing. Instead, she decided to make light conversation.

"Worked to death, huh? Which unit are you in?"

"Fifth. Special Assault."

"Well your fatigue makes complete sense, then. They're all over the place."

The Special Assault unit was responsible for emergency missions such as Aragami getting too close to the wall, and Deusphage eradication. They also provided emergency backup for other units.

"The Aragami seem to be getting really strong and really aggressive for no reason. Before they used to just die, but not they're making me work twice as hard! Like what's up with that?"

"I wish I knew..." said Yuki as she proceeded to eat another cookie herself.

She had a theory, but no evidence to back it up. Though in her mind, it was the only logical explanation behind the current events and sudden change in Aragami behavior. It was only a matter of time before something happened that would spring the first unit into action. She knew it.

"I have to say it again. These cookies are great! Hey, do you think you could ask Kanon to make some for me? Or better yet, when she makes some for you, just let me know so I can have some!"

"Hehehe. I'll see what I can do."

"Awesome. You are the best. Now, I'm off. I need to actually rest before something forces me back out into the field. Later!"

And just like that, she was up and gone as quickly as he came. Yuki watched her as she left, smiling a bit to herself.

"What a nice person. I hope I see her again. I'm starting to think the only questionable people here are Shun and Karel."

* * *

 **Tranquil Temple**

In the village blanketed with snow, members of the third unit had hidden themselves in the terrain of the desolate temple grounds. Making use of the dilapidated buildings as coverage for their mission.

"Achoo!"

Shun and Karel found themselves both sneezing at the same time. Needless to say this freaked Shun out.

"Dude! Did we just sneeze at the same time? That's really fucking freaky, man!"

"I hope I'm not coming down with a cold or something. I can't make money if I'm sick," said Karel.

"Maybe someone's just talking about you. Or you're just severely under-dressed," Gina added in as she carefully scouted the area with her sniper gun.

Her comment caused the two males to look at each other, and then their clothes.

"Well, whatever. Do you see anything, or...?" Shun questioned the woman.

"No, nothing yet."

"We've been out here forever. The stupid thing probably left before we even showed up. Let's just-"

Before Shun could finish that statement, he was cut off by Karel.

"Gina. Over there."

Following Karel's pointing finger, Gina refocused her sights towards a new location. It was then she saw something that merited a smirk forming on her lips.

"I think we found what we're looking for.~ How interesting. I just want to shoot it right now. Hehehe.~"

Gina was just itching the pull the trigger, but in consideration for her comrades, she fought her urges.

At that moment Hibari radioed in with a status update.

"A large hostile is en route. ETA is five minutes. I'm sending the predicted arrival coordinates to you now."

"Fuuuck..." Shun whispered to himself.

"Let's hurry up and deal with this thing, before our new guest arrives. Who knows, we might be able salvage some rare materials," Karel said as he moved out of hiding.

"Well when you put it that way..."

The thought of somehow turning this into a lucrative experience lifted Shun's spirits as he quickly followed behind the blond.

"Those two," said Gina as she readied herself to fire.

They had five minutes on the clock. Surely they'd be able to finish off the primary target before their surprise guest showed up.


	5. The Calm Before the Storm

**Tranquil Temple**

"It would be really fucking nice... ugh... if I could get up...damn it all."

Shun grimaced in pain as he attempted to rise from the ground, but to no avail. He seemed to be at his limit, and with no room for escape. Gina and Karel were already down for the count, and more than likely on the brink of death. Shun had been doing his best to fight, but even he could admit that he was in over his head.

"I can't believe I'm gonna fucking die like this," thought Shun as he watched the Aragami move in for the kill.

The Aragami readied its tail and prepared to impale the young male with its bladed pincer. Shun had already accepted his fate and was unwillingly prepared for the embrace of death. After all, there was nothing he could do but accept it.

Shun closed his eyes and braced himself for impact.

But it never came.

Upon opening his eyes once more, he noticed that in front of him was not an Aragami, but rather the someone in front of him guarding with their shield. Had he been saved? Did backup finally decide to show up? In all honesty, he couldn't be happier.

Not too long after this, he could hear the sounds of shots being fired at the beast. Ultimately this caused the Aragami's attention to shift from the two of them, and instead over to what was attacking it.

"It's about damn time..." said Shun, feeling a sense of relief wash over him.

"Sorry for being late! Let us handle this for now," said his savior as they looked over at him and smiled.

"Ugh... whatever..."

Not being faced with the looming danger of immediate death took all the adrenaline right out of Shun. Before he knew it, he had given into his fatigue and passed out.

* * *

 **The Den: Branch Director's Office**

A few days after the near annihilation of the third unit, a meeting was held with all the acivte God Eaters to discuss the appearance of the new Aragami.

Just like how Yuki hoped, things were about to start getting interesting. She'd finally get the knowledge she had been craving, and maybe she'd get the chance to fight this new Aragami.

However, she wasn't prepared to hear what Dr. Sakaki had to say.

Or rather...

She wasn't expecting it.

"Could you like... say that again, Dr. Sakaki. I don't think I heard you right," said Yuki as she and the other God Eaters stared at Dr. Sakaki in surprise. Even though they were supposed to remain mostly silent during the explanation, Yuki couldn't fight the urge to ask for him to repeat his words.

"Very well, once more. Muse is not one Aragami, but in fact several different Aragami that share virtually the same Aragami signature," explained the bespectacled man once more to the group of people in the room.

"We honestly don't understand it all just yet, however. The original Muse that appeared several years ago seemed to be an amalgamation of several different kinds of Aragami, but we weren't able to do proper research on it to confirm this theory. These newly appearing Aragami all have varying appearances and could be considered deusphages of more commonly known Aragami species. It's all quite vexing really. The one that attacked the third unit seemed to be a deusphage of a Borg Camlann, but looked nothing like any Aragami recorded in our database. We've given a name to this new Aragami: Melpomene. It will be classified as a Type 2 Deusphage," Dr. Sakai explained further.

Even after hearing the explanation for a second time, it still sounded utterly ridiculous and unfathomable. Several Aragami that shared pretty much the same signature? Aragami never failed to do something that surprised her. They truly were fascinatingly horrifying creatures.

"In order to gain more information, we will need to reclaim the core of at least one of these new Aragami. As it stands currently, we do not have any information on the whereabouts of these new deusphages. Needles to say, we'll need the assistance of each and every one of you to make this possible. This is going to to take a lot work and effort from all parties," said Tsubaki.

The rest of the meeting after this was debriefing on the general plan for dealing with the new threat. Until the third unit was fully healed, most of the units would loan out members between themselves when the situation called for it. However, the most definitive plan was to leave the eradication of the new deusphages to first and fifth units.

The meeting was concluded after the combat debriefing, and each of the summoned God Eaters took their leave. For the time being, everyone was on standby until they received further instruction.

* * *

 **The Den: Sakuya's Room**

"Jeez... can't we get a break once in a while? It's always somethin', you know?" said Lindow as he took a sip of his bear and sighed heavily.

"Arda Nova, Hannibal, Arius Nova, and now Muse. We've been faced with threat after threat in such a short amount of time," said Sakuya as she took at seat next to him on the couch. "But one thing I do know, is that we always come through in the end. At least the entire world isn't in danger this time."

"Well, you're definitely right about that. Something to be grateful for at least."

"Exactly. As long as we have each other and work hard as always, we'll be fine."

Sakuya moved over and placed a soft kiss on Lindow's lips, causing him to chuckle a bit before moving in to reciprocate.

This ultimately led to the two exchanging number of kisses back to back, and Sakuya soon found herself being gently pushed down onto the couch.

"Lindow..." Sakuya said in an almost whisper as Lindow's kisses shifted to her neck.

"Sakuya..." replied Lindow in somewhat husky voice that nearly sent her over the edge.

"What's gotten into you?"

"I'm more so concerned about what hasn't gotten into you, Sakuya."

A bright shade of red appeared on Sakuya's cheeks. She couldn't even formulate a proper comeback to that statement.

At that very moment, knocking could be heard from the door, bringing their intimate moment to an immediate end.

"Ugh... man, just when I was getting in there..."

Lindow groaned as Sakuya laughed slightly at his disappointment as she quickly rose to answer the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Sakuya! I really need something," said Yuki from the other side.

"Okay! Just one moment!"

Sakuya opened the door, smiling at the young captain who stood in front of her.

"What did you need?"

"Oh, I just needed to borrow your sewing kit for a bit so I can finish that thing."

"Oh, that? Of course. Give me a moment."

It took no time at all for Sakuya to retrieve the requested sewing kit, handing it over to the young captain who quickly bowed to express her gratitude.

"Thank you very much, Sakuya! I'll give this back to you as soon as possible!"

And with that, she quickly ran off.

"Hehehe. She really is cute sometimes," Sakuya said as she closed the door and reclaimed her seat next to Lindow.

"Well, she ruined the mood. Can't fault her though. What did she need that for anyway?" Lindow asked.

"I'd imagine she's going to finish making that handkerchief for Soma."

"Is that right? Looks like I'm not gonna be the only one getting it in pretty soon..."

"Hush, Lindow!"

"Hey! I'm just sayin'!"

* * *

 **The Den: Yuki's Room**

Alone in her room, Yuki sat and focused all of her attention on completing the project she had given to herself a while back: making a handkerchief for Soma. It was already near completion, but Yuki had just never got around to putting the finishing touches on it.

Things were about to get hectic in the Den pretty soon, and free time was about to be scarce. It was imperative for her to be able to finish this while she still had the chance. She wanted to give it to him as soon as possible. Knowing her, she was going to be working on this all night.

"Come to think of it... it's going to be December pretty soon."

That meant the weather was going to start getting pretty cold. Thinking about it gave her yet another idea on something she could make. It would take a lot more time than just a handkerchief but it would be totally useful to him in the long run.

"A scarf. I'll make him just the most awesome scarf ever so he can keep warm! Yeah! But first, I gotta focus on this thing right here."

How would Soma react when she finally gave him the present she had been working on? Would he smile and say thanks? Would he get all flustered and say thanks? Or would he do some unbelievably adorable combination of the two? Just thinking about it motivated the young captain further.

"No time to waste! Let's do this!"

* * *

 **The Den: Soma's Room**

"This is...?"

"A handkerchief!"

"Handkerchief, huh? Where'd you get it?"

"I made it myself!"

"Really...? You?"

"Hey! What's with that look of disbelief? See, look. I even stitched your name into it!"

"Oh?"

Soma began to carefully examined the blue cloth in his hands. She really had gone all out for such a simple gift. It seemed she had gone for a night sky theme based on the various star designs and crescent moons. Each design was obviously sewn by hand, making her effort even more apparent.

Upon further inspection of the handkerchief he found his name etched in the fabric, written in the most beautiful cursive. It was placed in such a way that if he were to ever properly fold it, he would always see his name. He really didn't know what to say. She clearly worked hard on it, and that made him happy despite the overall simplicity of the gift.

"Well? You haven't told me what you think!" said Yuki, looking at him with bright eyes and her usual cheerful smile.

"What I think? Oh, yeah. It's..."

Looking at her as she smiled so expectantly at him... For some reason, it made him somewhat flustered. Why the hell was she so happy all the time? Was it really because of him. It's not like he was doing anything special in particular that would merit her being so upbeat.

Needless to say, she was always pretty happy, but when she was around him there was notable increase in that cheerful demeanor of hers. It was almost too much for him to deal with. It made him feel... weird. It's not like he didn't like it. He actually liked it quite a bit, but it was just so strange.

In his opinion, the fact that she seemed to enjoy his presence so much made him feel somewhat special as no one ever showered him with he same level of positive energy she did. He didn't fully understand why, but had no issues with her presence despite all her teasing and occasional childlike antics.

"It's~?"

"It's nice... I really like it," said Soma as he averted his attention away from his captain in a poor attempt to hide his reddening cheeks.

"Yay! I'm so happy!"

Before he knew it, Yuki had practically thrown herself at him and began to hug him tightly.

"W-What are you doing, dumbass?!"

"Hugging you! Duh!~" said Yuki as she began to rub her head against his chest.

As if he wasn't flustered enough already. Why did she always do things like this? Maybe it was his fault because he never once ever made a genuine attempt to stop her. Why would he? It wasn't unpleasant, it was just random.

"Ugh... Do whatever you want..." Soma said as he groaned and shifted his eyes off to the side. That seemed to be the only thing he ever said to her whenever they had moments like these.

Their time together was always like this. She'd be random and he'd feign irritation. It was just like Yuki had said before. She was essentially his best friend. There was no way he'd let any other person get away with half of the things she did to him.

Soma allowed her to cling to him for at least a minute before feeling like he actually wanted to move.

"Yuki, could you get off me?"

"..."

No response.

"Yuki? Could you please get off of me?"

"..."

Still nothing. What the hell was wrong with her?

"Wait a minute..."

Suddenly, Soma had a realization as to what was going on.

"She fell asleep..."

It was the only thing he could think of.

Soma gently lifted the assumed slumbering girl off of him and move away from the couch, allowing her to lie undisturbed. Looking at her again, he could safely say that she was definitely asleep. Perhaps she was worn out from working on the handkerchief. Knowing her she probably stayed up for a long time and gave it to him the moment she finished.

"She'll wake up eventually," said Soma as he removed his jacket and carefully placed it over her sleeping frame. She looked so innocent and peaceful.

"You're lucky you're special, dumbass..."

Soma chuckled to himself as he gave the handkerchief another look and smiled before walking off. The moments they shared like this – no matter how stupid and random – he wouldn't trade them for anything else in the world.

* * *

 **The Den: Entrance**

"So, Kanon. I know this may sound completely crazy considering we barely know each other. But could you hook me up with some of those cookies you always make for the first unit captain? I had some and they were _so_ good!"

"Well, sure! Why not! I'm surprised you didn't ask sooner. I love baking for my comrades!"

Sora's eyes brightened up at hearing Kanon's answer. It was like all her dreams had suddenly come true...somewhat.

"You mean it?! That's great! Thanks, Kanon! I can't believe I was too scared to ask before!"

As this was going, a male approached the pair of girls with slightly raised eyebrow.

"What's this about cookies?" he asked.

"Oh, Storm. Kanon said she was going to make me some of her cookies. You want any?"

Storm's face immediately scrunched up.

"You mean those abnormal looking red things she's always making and eating? Ew, no thanks."

"...What's wrong with what my cookies look like?" Kanon asked, looking genuinely concerned.

"They look weird and nasty."

"W-Weird and nasty?"

"Yeah! Like I feel like I'll get sick from eating them."

Kanon's face suddenly saddened at hearing his words. This prompted Sora to immediately jump in and defend her.

"Kanon's cookies are actually pretty good! Don't knock them before you actually _try_ them, Storm!"

"Nah, I'm good. I don't wanna die. You can have those questionable cookies, " Storm replied as he waved his hand dismissively and walked off.

A heavy sigh sounded from Kanon as she looked at the ground. His words obviously got to her considerably.

"Hey, there. Don't mind him. He always says things he shouldn't. That's why he gets beat up all the time. And besides! I think your cookies are great! And Yuki thinks your cookies are great too, so forget him!"

This was Sora's way of trying to console Kanon, but she was entirely sure if it would actually work.

"Well...I guess when you put it that way I don't really mind it anymore. As long as someone loves my baking, that's all that matters!"

Kanon's face lit up once more as she reverted back to her usual happy self. Needless to say, Sora was satisfied.

"Exactly! I'm looking forward to your cookies, Kanon!"

"I'll make them right now!" said Kanon as she suddenly ran off, leaving Sora there to just stare in mild surprise before actually reacting

"...All right! I'm getting cookies!"

* * *

 **The Den: Infirmary**

Federico couldn't help but sigh as he sat next to Shun's bed with his head hanging.

"Had I been there, this probably wouldn't have happened to you guys," he said with a loud sigh.

"Whatever, man. It's not your fault or anything. You had completely different assignment. Besides, even if you were there it wouldn't have made much of difference," said Shun, followed by an irritated groan.

"Was it really that strong?"

"Well obviously!If it was bat-shit weak we wouldn't be here right now!"

"Y-You're right! It was a dumb question. But to hear you openly admit to being overpowered, Shun..."

It was unlike Shun to actually admit to something being beyond his skills. Karel once told Federico that had a tendency for accepting missions way over his head.

"Ugh... what's the point of denying it? Look at me? Look at us. Karel and Gina got it worse than I did. I tried to protect them, but..."

Shun suddenly fell quiet before suddenly lying down on the bed.

"I'm tired. Go away."

Federico was somewhat confused, but nodded his head.

"O-Okay! I'll come back to check on you guys tomorrow!"

Rising from his seat, Federico made his way out of the infirmary. In the back of his mind, he wanted to do what he could to avenge his harmed comrades. Even though it wasn't his fault for not being there, he still cared about his team and couldn't find it within himself to just ignore their pain and suffering. He'd find something to do, even if it was indirectly.

* * *

"Even I know I'm not as great as I try hype myself up to be..." Shun thought as Federico left the room.

Shun had a tendency of being arrogant, and he knew it. He wanted to seem cool and awesome so he convinced himself that he was the best, even though he wasn't. It was unlike him to sit around and think about things like this while feeling sorry for himself, but he just couldn't help it.

He and his teammates had nearly died out in the field because of his weakness. Sure, one could argue that it could have happened to anyone if they were fighting an unknown enemy, but the difference in power was far too great. He had a long ways to go before he could sit around on his ass trying to convince himself and others than he was some amazing God Eater.

"I fucking suck..." he said to himself.

"You did everything you could, you know..." a voice suddenly said, instantly grabbing Shun's attention.

"Karel?"

"You're not the only one at fault here. We all failed..." another voice chimed in.

"Gina..." said Shun, slowly lifting into a sitting position as he looked around at his teammates.

"You're definitely stronger than us, Shun. After all, weren't you the last one standing? Fighting even on your last legs?" Gina asked.

"Yeah..."

Shun slowly nodded his head.

"You actually didn't run away for a change, either. You fought to protect someone other than yourself," Karel added.

Shun was known for having tendency for ignoring his comrades in danger in order to save his own skin. But in that moment, he didn't run away. He actually fought as hard as he could, even though the outcome was inevitable.

"S-Someone had to protect you losers! Like you said, you all suck worse than me! I was just babysitting!"

A light shade of red crept up on the Shun's cheeks as he turned his head and pouted.

His reaction prompted a small chuckle from Karel.

"There he is."

"Yes. That's our Shun."

Gina nodded her head as she laughed a bit herself.

What was this feeling inside of him? It was warm and felt pretty awesome. The feeling welling up inside him caused his pout to slowly turn into a smile as he suddenly found himself laughing a bit as well.

"S-Shut up and rest, you damn losers! Hmph!"

Still trying to keep up the tough-guy facade, Shun quickly hid under the sheets of his bed. The smile that had formed on his lips had yet to fade, and the feeling in his heart had yet to die. For some reason, he didn't feel as trashy as he did before. His self-deprecation was replaced with motivation as he quietly swore to himself that he would get stronger. Not only for himself, but for his friends as well.


	6. The Village of Windmills

_Barely any time had passed since the meeting regarding Muse and the deusphage Aragami. The God Eaters of the far east branch were already getting worked to death and thrown all over the place. Most of the time Yuki went on missions that just required her dispatch Aragami threats in various areas. You know, the usual stuff._

 _Though sometimes, she'd have to help the other units with whatever missions they had if they just happened to be too low on personnel. This could be said for everyone, however. Between searching for one of those special deusphages and just doing her normal work, she was completely exhausted, and likely, so was everyone else._

 _However, a scout team had reported strange activity in a village in Aragami territory. They stated hearing the sound of a woman crying and laughing at random intervals, but could not find the source of this phenomenon. With everyone else preoccupied with their own assignments, they sent the two people who just happened to be free at the time to check investigate and destroy any possible Aragami threat._

* * *

 **Windmill Village**

"This place looks borderline haunted..." Yuki said as she and Soma walked side by side through dilapidated village.

The air was incredibly cold due to the howling wind that carried the sound of creaking windmills. Visibility was somewhat low due to the light mist that flowed through the entire area, only serving to make things even more creepy. All in all, who could blame the young captain for being somewhat on edge.

"Are you afraid?" Soma asked, glancing over at the girl in his peripheral vision. He seemed serious, but at the same time it almost sounded like he was trying to tease her.

"N-No...! Well..." Yuki fell quiet for a moment as her ultramarine eyes quickly looked around before they landed on him. "I'm just mildly creeped out. We've walked around here for a while now and haven't seen or heard a single Aragami. Isn't that strange? You hear really good, and not even you've picked up on anything."

"You're right about that. It is pretty odd. It's been almost fifteen minutes since we got here, but..."

Before Soma could finish his sentence, the eerie laughter of a woman could be heard echoing throughout the village. This prompted to the two God Eaters to stop immediately and grip the handles of their blades even tighter than before as they looked around cautiously.

"What the heck was that? You heard that right, Soma?"

"Who knows, maybe it was a ghost."

"Do not joke about that...! Our God Arcs don't work against ethereal beings of the supernatural!"

"Calm down. In all seriousness, I think we're getting closer to our target."

Yuki nodded her head in agreement as she began to move forward yet again with Soma. So far all they had seen since they arrived was ruined building after ruined building, but the sound of that eerie feminine laughter made Yuki feel as though they were on the right track.

While they could have easily covered more ground if they just separated, it seemed unwise given the mist. There was always a chance they could lost, and in the event that one of them found themselves in trouble, it would likely be difficult for them to aid the other on time. They were just going to have to take their time.

The feminine voice soon echoed throughout the village again. Instead of laughing, this time it seemed as though it was crying, and that was just as creepy.

"Now the voice is crying... Ugh, I feel like I'm in a horror movie," Yuki groaned as Soma suddenly stopped walking and turned his head.

"Over there..."

"Hm?"

Yuki turned her head in the same direction as him to get a view of whatever it was he was looking at. In the nearby distance she could see what appeared to be a traditional Japanese manor on a hill away from the main village. Perhaps he was thinking that their target was inside.

"Wanna go there?" inquired the lieutenant as she glanced over to the assault corporal.

"Why not. It's better than just walking around aimlessly."

"I fully agree. Let's go. Hopefully the thing is in there so we can get the hell out of here and go home. I hate this place..."

With that decided, the pair changed course to the hilltop manor. They were clearly on the right track. The closer they approached the establishment in question, the more they started to hear the feminine voice. It would constantly switch between crying and laughter, and they closer the got, the clearer it became. Soon enough, the two reached the entrance and everything fell quiet.

Yuki took a deep breath as she tightly gripped her God Arc. "All right. let's be ready for anything."

Soma nodded his head as he readied his God Arc and the two began to enter the partly destroyed manor. What they saw upon entering was... disturbing to say the least.

What decorated the interior of the manor were numerous carcasses of dead Aragami, mostly Zygotes and Ogretails, but they were essentially ripped to pieces. The smell of fresh blood enveloped the place as splotches of crimson painted the walls and floor. It was even more like a horror film now. No matter where the two walked it was just more of the same gruesome stuff. This was definitely the home to an Aragami. One that liked to feed on the weaker ones.

They explored the manor for at least ten minutes, and eventually their search reached its end as they entered a wide open room. Inside the room was a large humanoid figure that floated in the air with its back turned to them. It was undoubtedly the Aragami they were looking for.

The main body looked highly close to the female part of a Venus, but the rest of it seemed highly akin to that of a Fallen Sariel. At least that's what Yuki could make out from where they stood in relation to the monster. Was it a fusion between the two? Unfortunately, she didn't have time to philosophize the lore behind the thing's existence.

Both the lieutenant and the assault corporal looked towards one another, nodding their heads before preparing to attack. Yuki switched her God Arc to gun form, and began to fire rapidly at the Aragami to start the surprise assault as Soma began to advance in with his blade ready to slice the thing to shreds.

The Aragami became immediately alert the second Yuki opened fire on it and turned around to face them. As it did this, Soma was already in the air, coming down with downward swing directed at the humanoid monster.

It was pretty fast, because it somehow managed to back away just in time from his strike while also spreading a teal-colored mist towards him from beneath its skirt-like body structure, before immediately fleeing through the hole in the roof that led to outside.

"Ah, dammit!" Yuki swore aloud as she watched it slip away in the blink of an eye.

There wasn't possibly enough time for Soma to avoid whatever it was that the unnamed Aragami had done, but he seemed fine considering how he just landed on his feet afterward and stood there. Wait...why was he just standing there?

"Soma! We need to give chase! Come on!" she called out as she switched back to blade form and quickly ran up to him. "Are you okay? There's nothing wrong, right? If not, let's-"

Before she knew it, he was swinging his blade right at her causing her to jump back in surprise while barely avoiding it.

"Woah! What the heck, man! What was that for?"

Now words were spoken. Readying his buster blade, Soma began dashing right at her with the same kind of aura he normally exuded when fighting Aragami. It's like he had the full intent of trying to murder her.

There was no way she was going to sit around and just let it happen, of course. She had to defend herself while also trying to figure out was going on.

"Soma! Seriously! This is not funny!" said Yuki as she deployed her tower shield to guard against next swing.

The sheer force of the attack sent her tumbling back. She almost fell down, but managed to regain her footing almost immediately before leaping into the air and jumping over him.

"C'mon man. This really isn't okay. What's wrong? Why aren't you say anything?" She did her best to try to talk him out of whatever state he was in. She wasn't sure what was happening, but she knew for sure he was not himself,

However, her words were clearly failing to reach him. No matter what she said, no matter how many times she avoided his strikes, he just kept coming and coming to the point where they were eventually crossing blades

Words weren't doing the trick. She was probably going to have to beat him back to normal. But that was going to be somewhat hard considering how they were essentially each other's foil. He was incredibly stronger than she was, and if happened to get hit with sword, there was no doubt in her mind that she would probably die.

His sword was bigger than she was, and she had saw many occasions of him shredding through Aragami with single swings. How could she, a human, even hope to survive against something like that?

On the flip-side, she was significantly faster and more agile meaning she could avoid most of his attacks. Not only that, he was half Aragami which meant that he possessed an incredibly superior recovery abilities. Her hurting him wasn't as bad as him hurting her, objectively speaking.

However, their weapons were made for slaying monsters, not people. Even if he was half Aragami, he was still a person and she was deathly afraid of inflicting an injury with her blade that he wouldn't be able to easily recover from.

No matter how hard she thought, nothing came to mind. The only thing she knew is that she wouldn't run from him. Maybe if she just held out for long enough, he would go back to normal. At this point that was all she could hope for.

As the two comrades continued to cross blades, the captain soon found herself in a rather precarious situation. She had managed guard against one of his blade swings in the heat of the moment using her own, but the size difference between the two weapons and the difference in strength was proving to be the deciding factor.

Soma began to forcefully press his blade down upon her own, and Yuki felt herself shrinking lower and lower to the ground. Despite her efforts to push back, he was overpowering her so badly it hurt.

Yuki very rarely ever got scared, but not even she could deny the fear that consumed her as she watched her single favorite person look at her with most hateful, bloodthirsty expression. Was she seriously going to die like this? Talk about lame!

She was reaching her limit, and before she knew it... she was actually crying. When was the last time she did that? If that wasn't a testament to how hopeless she felt at the moment, nothing was.

"Soma.. you're scaring me..." she said shakily in an almost whisper as the tears began to stream down her cheeks. It seriously didn't matter what she said at this point since trying to talk him out had done literally nothing before. Her words were he truth, however, she really was scared.

And then it happened...

Her arms finally gave out, and the God Arc was smacked out of her hands as his the tip of his blade sliced through part of her shoulder and even some of her chest as she dropped to her knees. Blood began trickle through her freshly developed wound almost immediately as she sat there for a second.

She had only been hit with the tip of the sword which meant that at best the wound was only skin deep. She could easily come back from that. Luck was certainly on her side today. She still had a chance. He was probably going to try to swing at her again, she needed to move as fast as possible.

Or so she thought...

Soma didn't actually do anything at all. In fact he was standing there staring at her blankly. It honestly confused the hell out of her? Was he like broken or something?

"...Soma?"

Suddenly the tight grip he had on his God Arc loosened, and the giant blade dropped to floor, but Soma himself continued to stand there with the same blank expression.

"Soma?" Yuki called out again.

This time, Soma himself dropped to his knees and quickly pulled her into a tight hug.

"Eh?"

Was he back to normal? Honestly, she didn't know considering how the Soma she knew would never hug her. Then again, what else could it have been? He wasn't trying to kill her anymore, so...

"I'm...sorry..." he said in a voice that was barely audible, even to her who was right in his embrace.

The captain wasn't entirely sure what to say about all of this. Even though she was sitting there bleeding, she felt oddly peaceful. Maybe it was because she was just so happy to see him back to his more or less normal self, but any pain she felt before was barely noticeable.

"What are you apologizing for? I'm fine!" said Yuki as a warm smile formed on her lips and she began to rub his back.

"..." Soma didn't say anything back. He just continued to hold her for a very long time.

* * *

 _They never did manage to find the Aragami that had inexplicably fled from the scene. In fact, they returned to base immediately after Soma had come to his senses. Finally being out of that situation allowed Yuki time to think about what had actually transpired. She deduced that whatever that mist that the Aragami had let out was the reason behind his strange behavior. It was the only thing that made sense. she included all this information in her report._

 _She wanted to ask Soma about his side of it all, but... he didn't seem like he wanted to talk much about anything, really. It was almost like he had completely reverted back to his old cold self. Perhaps he was feeling guilty about what happened to her. It wasn't like she was severely injured or anything. Yuki was incredibly lucky that she was barely touched by it._

 _Even if she told him all this, it probably wouldn't have helped his mood any. Maybe he just needed some time to himself..._


	7. Melpomene

**The Den**

Standing in front of the door to the lab that Yuki had been holding herself up in, Soma had readied his hand to knock on her door. He had tried to mentally prepare himself for this moment, thinking about all the things he wanted to say, but when he got to this point he would immediately choke up and hesitate.

"...Ugh. I'll just come back tomorrow," he mumbled to himself as he lowered his hand. How many times had he told himself that? He always came back, that much was true, but each time he couldn't find it in himself to just knock.

"Giving up again? That's the fifth time this week, y'know."

The sudden sound a familiar voice from behind prompted the assault corporal's head to turn towards the source. Behind him stood none other than Lindow, looking at Soma with a mischievous smirk curled on his lips.

"Tch... You following me now?"

"Following? Nah, that makes me sound all creepy. I'd like to say I'm looking after ya, kid."

"I don't need you to look after me," Soma replied dryly as he slid his hands in his pockets and walked past the older male.

"How long you gonna keep your princess waiting?" asked Lindow suddenly.

"Stop sticking your nose into my business!" Soma quickly snapped at Lindow, looking back at him with an irritated glare.

"Woah! No need to get all feisty on me. She might just hear you and open that door."

Soma's eyes immediately widened at those words. That was the last thing he need at the moment. He already didn't have the courage to talk to her of his own volition, so her coming out would force him into an awkward situation.

"Just leave me alone," was Soma's last retort as he quickly departed from the scene. As he walked off he could hear the sound of Lindow chuckling at him. It was taunting and almost tempted him to turn back around, but Soma resisted the urge and just kept moving forward. He'd talk to her again when he was actually ready. He could vividly picture her reaction to him speaking to her again.

"Oh, so you stopped being a Mr. Grumpy Pants? I'm so happy you're talking to me again. You know, I would have totally waited forever for you if I had to. Get over here and let me hug you, nerd!" he thought. The fact that he had her manner of speech so well memorized was equally amusing and terrifying. They really were close, weren't they? Seeing it that way, maybe he was just overthinking everything.

* * *

Leon sat in the entrance of the Den, quietly drinking his coffee as he waited for his teammates to finish making preparations for their mission. The fifth unit was to work with members of the first and third units to defeat the deusphage known as Melpomene. This would be his second encounter with the Aragami, the first being during the rescue of the third unit. Their battle had been short-lived, but was long enough to provide some insight on its battle capabilities. It fled during the battle, but since the fifth unit was tasked with saving the third unit, they didn't give chase. It was easily for the best considering all three of the participating unit members being in critical condition.

"We'll be sure to finish it this time.." said Leon to himself as he took another sip of his coffee. He was operating on only four hours of sleep and had to find a way to give himself a small boost. What better way than with coffee, right?

As the fifth unit leader enjoyed his caffeinated beverage, he was slowly approached by a certain crimson haired male who looked down at him with a slight scowl.

"Hey, you..."

"Hm?" Leon looked over to the male, taking a good look at him before quickly realizing who he was. "Oh, Shun. What's up?"

Shun groaned to himself for a moment as his eyes shifted away from Leon. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but Leon had no idea what.

"I just wanted to say... Thanks..." Shun finally said. It was mostly mumbled, but Leon could still make it out.

"Thanks? For?"

"F-For saving me, idiot!"

"Oh!"

That's right. Leon had saved Shun right when he was about to be finished off by Melpomene. In truth, he was actually surprised that Shun even remembered his face, let alone came up and expressed gratitude for being rescued.

A smile formed on the the fifth unit captain's lips as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head, running his fingers through his blue locks.

"No need to thank me! I'm was only doing my job."

"Just shut up and accept my thanks!"

"O-Okay! You're welcome. Heh."

"Hmph," Shun merely scoffed and walked away, having said all he wanted to.

"That guy never changes, huh?" thought Leon as he finished off the rest of his coffee.

* * *

 **City of Mercy**

Wispy clouds decorated the dusk sky over the desolate city blanketed in an orange cast. The dispatched team was closing in on their primary target like predators on the prowl. Having already defeated the weaker Aragami in the vicinity, they could all focus their attention on the more important task at hand: defeating Melpomene.

The target Aragami feasted upon the carcass of one of its fallen kind in the middle of the empty street, completely unaware of the danger looming around it at every possible angle. The front, back, and both of the Aragami's sides were accounted for. The plan had already been discussed, and now all that was left was to put it all to action.

Federico had taken place atop of a building towering above the beast, ready to fire upon order. Storm and Sora had taken position at the rear, while Leon, Alisa had taken the front.

The scorpion-like creature had no elemental attacks, and was likewise weak to every element. Though despite this, it was still a threat for other reasons. Unlike the other Aragami of this species, Melpomene was completely bladed all around. Aside from its stinger, in place of pincers were thick blade-like appendages that were capable of firing needle-based projectiles while also being capable used as just normal 'swords'. In general, it sounded like a pain in the ass, but they had the element of surprise to their advantage

Quietly observing the beast from around the bend of an alleyway, Leon radioed in to his teammates to start the plan.

"All right. Let's start. Just as we discussed, okay?"

"Okay, here I go," said Fedeirco as he aimed for the Aragami's head area which was protected by armored mask.

With just one shot from his sniper gun, the mask shattered into numerous pieces, leaving the head mostly exposed. Needless to say, this alerted the Aragami of his presence causing it quickly turn its attention to him. But that's exactly what they wanted to happen.

At that moment Sora took to the scene, reaching for a stun grenade and throwing directly on to the monster, causing it to be temporarily blinded while allowing Federico enough time to safely descend to the ground. This was when the real hurt was about to happen. Without even a moment of delay, the remaining God Eaters rushed into the fray.

Leon and Alisa made their way in from the front, whilst Storm approached from the back. Their goal was to cripple the enemy before it even had the chance to properly recover.

Storm went straight for the tail, leaping into the air and descending upon it with a downward swing of his long blade. The momentum of the fall only served to increase the overall force of the impact as the tail was sliced clean off with no effort at all. Though that wasn't the only form of severing taking place.

Federico and Alisa had been tasked with doing away with doing away with its other two bladed appendages. Unlike the tail, the 'arms' had the least amount of armor meaning their long swords could just slice right through without too much problem, and that's exactly what happened.

Within the same instance of having its tail sliced off, its arms soon followed. They had completely annihilated and severed all its means of fighting back, but it didn't end there. The captain himself moved in for the finishing blow as he jumped into the air, ascending right above the dismembered Aragami and readying his arc for wide devour.

"Devour!"

The beast could do no more than watch as the jaws clamped its body and completely consumed what was left of its body aside from its legs. Just like that, it was over. The captain reclaimed his native place on the ground where he stood surrounded by crimson splattered across the surface of the ruined street and dismembered limbs. The battle was over before it had even actually started.

"We did it! I can't wait to tell the others!" Federico said.

"We kicked ass out there!" said Storm.

"Had we been on the receiving end of an ambush instead, this fight probably would have lasted longer," added in Alisa.

"I think we should all gather around and start handing out those high-fives! How about it, team?! Anyone? Anyone at all?"

Sora held her hand up and looked around the group of God Eaters with a wide smile that eventually ended up fading into a straight face when she realized that no one was going to entertain her idea. "Fine. Don't give me a high-five. I don't care... Even though I definitely care..." Sora let out a defeated sigh as she lowered hand and hug her head.

"H-Hey! Cheer up. I'll give you a high-five, Sora!" Alisa quickly moved towards the older female, holding her hand up with a warm smile. "See?"

Sora's eyes lit up as she instantly lifted her hand back up and slapped it against Alisa's. "Yeah! High-five!"

"Um..." Federico walked up with his hand raised as well. "Can I have one too?"

"Sure!" Sora quickly did the same to Federico, giving him a thumbs up. "High five! Anyone else?" she said, looking around eagerly at the remaining two god eaters.

Leon and Storm exchanged glances before they both sighed and raised their hands.

"Yeah! High five!" Sora wasted no time in using both her hands to give them both a high-five at the same time. "You guys are great. Than

"Can we not linger around here too much longer? We finished this pretty fast, and I want to get back and enjoy my extra time. Captain, did you get the core? If so, let's all make like paper airplanes and glide on out of here," Storm said, trying to dissolve the after battle banter.

"Well actually..." Leon glanced over at his God Arc, wearing a troubled expression. "There wasn't a core to retrieve..."

Everyone present stared at Leon in silence for a moment as if trying to process what he had told them before all speaking in unison. "What?!"

"How can there not be a core? All Aragami have a core," said Alisa.

"Well, I know but.." Leon paused for a moment as he looked over at the remains of the Aragami that had been defeated so easily by them. "I don't really get it myself either."

"Of course! There's always something new with these friggen monsters. Let's just go home and put it in the report. There's no point in sitting around trying to think about it. We kill stuff and go home. Leave the thinking to the geeks," Storm said, his desire to leave being more than apparent at this point.

Leon couldn't help but agree. This was something that was beyond their level of expertise and was best left to the specialists. Eventually, his confusion would be cleared once the others had reached a reasonable conclusion. Until then, he would do what he did best: hunting Aragami.

* * *

 **The Den**

A loud sigh resonated throughout the lab as Yuki rested her head on the desk, eyes barely open and arms hanging. How long had it been since she actually got any real sleep? Recently, she spent most of her nights working in the lab with Dr. Sakaki, helping with his research regarding Muse. When he had approached with the proposal of being an assistant researcher, it surprised her to say the least. However, Sakaki seemed to be quite confident in her ability to assist, saying something along the lines of her being incredibly perceptive, or something like that.

Yuki was more than happy to help as assisting with the research would prove to quench her lingering curiosity about the strange new Aragami, and many other things. However, because she was spending so much time researching, she was spending less time actually doing field missions. She didn't feel the need to ponder on the well-being of her team, since they often came to visit her to see if they could help. Well, Soma was an exception that. The last time she spoke to him was on the day of that unfortunate mission they had together.

"I wonder what he's up to..."she thought.

He really had been going out of his way to avoid speaking with her. It didn't really worry her that much since she merely assumed he was feeling upset about attacking her against his will. She wasn't upset, and he had to know that, but perhaps the problem was something deeper than what she could perceive from the surface. Regardless, she was going to keep waiting for him to speak with her. Yuki didn't know when that would be, but she had faith that it would happen eventually.

"I need to focus on not being so tired. I'll rest my eyes for like an hour and then get back to work..."

Resting her eyes was just a fancy way of saying she was going to pass out for an indefinite amount of time. Normally, she could sleep for hours if allowed, but in the Lab she found it difficult to sleep past three hours at best. The hard desk and chair just wasn't as comfortable as an actual bed or couch.

Despite the discomfort, Yuki eventually found herself able to fall asleep. Though the rest was short-lived as her dreamless slumber was interrupted by the sound of knocking at the door.

"Ugh.."

Barely opening her eyes, Yuki reluctantly lifted her head from the desk while sighing. She didn't feel like raising her voice to tell them to come in, so she forcibly made herself stand and walked all the way to the door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming..." she said, sighing as she opened the door to see who it was. Her eyes were pleasantly graced by the sight of none other than the Bugarally enthusiast and scout sergeant...

"Kota?"

"Hey! I just came to check on ya! Oh, I got food," said Kota, holding up a tray that held a plate containing steak, mashed potatoes, and brocoli along with what appeared to be strawberry soda on the side. He knew her so well. Just looking at it and smelling it made her wake up entirely.

"C'mon! Get in here! I can't wait to eat that!" said Yuki as she quickly took the tray from his hands and shuffled over to the table in the lab, taking a seat on the couch.

"Hahaha! You act like you haven't eaten in days, captain." Kota followed in behind Yuki as the door closed behind him and he took his seat beside her.

"So how's the research coming along?"

"Oh well...um.. Give me a second!"

Yuki needed time to satisfy her craving for the food in front of her, and she wasted no time in picking up her utensils and digging right into that juicy steak. The second the meat entered her mouth and blessed her taste buds, she entered a state which could only be compared to nirvana. Yuki chewed slowly, savoring every bite to the fullest possible extent before swallowing.

"Ah!~ That was awesome! What would I do without you, Kota? As that one guy would say... What was his name again? Ah, yes.. Storm! As Storm would say: Good looking out, fam!"

"Fam?" repeated Kota with his head cocked to the side.

"It's short for family. At least that's what he said."

"That guy sure does say some weird stuff."

"Definitely... Anyway, so you wanted to know how the research was coming along?"

"Yeah!" Kota eagerly replied as he nodded his head. "You've been holding yourself up in here for days. You gotta have something to show for it by now, right?"

"Well, yeah. So far we've been able to make a few theories. We believe that the desuphages that all share the similar Aragami signature are in fact pieces of a bigger whole. You follow me?"

"So... All these other Aragami are actually different parts of the same Aragami?"

"Yes. You know how the Oracle CNS, otherwise known as the core, acts as an Aragami's central nervous system?"

"Yeah."

"Well, the squad assigned to defeat Melpomene, one of the special deusphages that shares a virtually identical Aragami signature to Muse, did not have a core."

"Wait... What?!" Kota blurted out, looking at her in shock.

"Yup. That thing did not have a core. It seems like these deusphages are not individual Aragami but rather semi-independent parts of an Aragami that serves as the true central core. That Aragami would be the true Muse."

"Seriously? So what does it all mean?"

"Well, if our theory is correct, then destroying those deusphages would be the equal to shattering an Aragami's bonds. That means once the deusphage is destroyed, it's gone forever. Though, this raises the question of why Muse would separate itself in such a way. It seems more detrimental than helpful," after saying this she quickly scooped up some of the mashed potatoes, putting it into her mouth and letting out a cheerful sigh. "So good!"

"Wow... You really have been working hard, haven't you?" Kota seemed genuinely impressed by her explanation. Perhaps it was because he had never actually heard her talk about something like this before.

"Well, of course. I think we might actually be on to something here. Personally, I think we should prioritize the eradication of those deusphages. There has to be a motive behind why Muse decided to separate itself. While it's currently unclear, I have the feeling that it would be unwise to let those deusphages linger for too much longer."

"Aw, man... This sounds like it's gonna turn into some pretty heavy stuff soon..." Kota sighed heavily as he hung his head.

"Maybe...I hope not, but it really does sound potentially bad. We're not even sure where to find the real Muse, either."

Yuki soon found herself letting out a heavy sigh as well as she reached for her drink, taking a gulp from it before placing it back down. "This is hitting the spot, seriously."

A smile formed on Kota's features as began to playfully ruffle Yuki's hair. "Eat up and savor ever bit of it! You're gonna have to get back to work after this, y'know?"

"H-Hey! Don't mess up my already messed up hair!" Yuki complained as she pouted at the orange-haired male whose hair was about as equally unkempt as her own.

"What was that? I can't hear you!" Kota teased, ruffling her hair twice as hard as she only whined in displeasure.

"Kotaaaa! Stoooop!"

Laughing, Kota headed her request and stopped with his ruffling. Her wore the most gigantic grin on his face as Yuki just glared at him with narrowed eyes.

"You should learn to respect your elders!" she said, folding her arms and turning her head away from the male.

"Elders? You're like two years older than me! The way you say it makes you sound like an old lady or something."

"Old lady?! No way!"

"Yes way!"

"Hmph. You are beginning to annoy me, Kota!"

Kota's amused expression immediately turned into one of apprehenshion as he quickly began to wave his hands in front of him.

"H-Hey! You don't really mean that now, do you?"

"Nah, I'm just messing with you.~" said Yuki, smacking him over the head.

"You're so mean! I was actually kind of worried there!"

Now Kota was the one pouting as Yuki laughed at him instead.

"Sorry, sorry. I just couldn't help myself."

"I know, I know. You're the infamous teaser. I should have seen that coming."

A small chuckle came from Kota as well as he rose from the couch and waved his hand.

"Well, I don't wanna keep you from work. I'll be going now."

"Aww, so soon? Well, okay. Thanks for coming by Kota. I really appreciate it."

"No problem at all! See ya later!"

Yuki watched as Kota left the room, leaving her all alone yet again. A small sigh escaped past her lips as she turned to her food and began eating once again. His presence certainly had given her a bit of an energy spike. Just that brief moment of playing around provided her with enough energy to focus on her research. Yuki really did have the greatest friends.

* * *

"Just go over there and talk to her!" Leon said to Storm as he tried to nudge over to Kanon's direction.

"Nah, man! I can't I don't know what to say!" said Storm as he fervently shook his head, his feet still firmly in the same spot.

A heavy sigh sounded from the fifth unit captain as he held the palm of his hand against his forehead. "Just tell her you're sorry and... I don't know. Just see what happens from there!"

"It's not that easy, Leon! You know it's not that easy!"

"It is that easy. You just have to believe in yourself, you know?"

Storm groaned as he turned to walk away from the scene, however Leon immediately grabbed him by the collar and forced him back.

"Don't be a quitter, Storm. Don't tell me you did all that mental preparation for nothing. If you don't do this as soon as possible, you're gonna end up putting it off every single time."

Yet another groan sounded from Storm as he covered his face with both hands. "Ugh... You're right..." he said, his voice practically muffled.

"Now go over there and talk to her like a real man!"

Leon pat Storm on the back a few times as Storm uncovered his face and nodded.

"Yeah! I'll go!" Feeling a newfound sense of determination within him, Storm confidently approached the pink-haired girl. Upon reaching her, he took a deep breath before speaking. "Hey, you!"

Storm's sudden call out startled the medic private, causing her respond in a slightly confused manner. "Y-Yes?"

"..." Storm continued to stare at her in complete silence, his hands slowly turning into fists as beads of sweat began to form on his face.

"Are you okay, or..."

In the midst of Kanon displaying a general concern for his well-being, Storm suddenly exploded. "YOU'RE UGLY!" Having said that he quickly ran off, leaving everyone in the vicinity in complete shock and bewilderment at what just happened.

"Jeez, Storm... What the hell..." Leon said as he shook his head and sighed. Was this guy ever going to be able to tell her how he felt?

Looking over at Kanon, she seemed to be in a state of shock and hadn't so much as blinked since Storm...stormed off. Whether or not he and Kanon became a thing had really nothing to do with him, but he did consider Storm to be a friend. He wasn't that bad of a guy, he was just...special.

"Well, there's nothing I can do about this for now. I'm tired.."

Yawning, Leon made his off towards the section elevator. Hopefully the next day would prove as simple, yet eventful as this day was.


	8. Clio and the Town of Anamnesis

_A few days after the annihilation of Melpomene, a scouting unit managed to locate another Aragami with the same signature as Muse. According to their report it appeared to be a deusphage similar to a Vajra, and was subsequently given the name Clio. The task of terminating this newly discovered Aragami was given to the first unit. However, with Yuki currently being too preoccupied with her temporary position as an assistant researcher, she was unable to accompany her team. Leadership was briefly handed to former first unit captain Lindow Amamiya as a result. The unit quickly made their way to the mission location to terminate Clio which had made its home within the Town of Anamnesis: a settlement that was once home to small population of humans. It was said to be one of the first areas in the Far East to fall victim to the Aragami threat. In present day, the place is nothing more than nest for Aragami that have made their home within the decrepit and crumbling structures of the dilapidated town._

* * *

 **Town of Anamnesis**

"All right, here's the game plan. We're not sure where this thing is hiding, so we're gonna split up and do some searching. Don't hesitate to take down any Aragami you see. We may be here just to take down Clio, but there's no harm and clearing the place out if we can. We'll split into two teams: Me and Soma for the first, and Sakuya will lead the second team with Alisa and Kota. If Clio shows up, you know what to do. Everyone got it?" asked Lindow as he looked over at each of them.

"Roger," the other four God Eaters said in unison before breaking off into their assigned groups, going off into opposite directions.

Lindow and Soma headed into the westernmost section of the town while Sakuya's group headed east. The two males walked in silence for a few minutes, traversing past the various crumbling structures of the desolate settlement. Lindow had his God Arc rested upon his shoulder, looking at the clouds that slowly made their way across the light blue afternoon sky. Though his back was facing the dark-skinned assault corporal who followed closely behind, he could feel the younger male glaring at him.

"Sure is a nice day, huh?" said Lindow.

"..." Soma remained completely silent, only giving a light grunt.

"After we're done with taking this thing out, I think I may just head back and enjoy me a nice cold brew. How 'bout you, Soma?"

"...Stop it," said Soma.

"Stop what?" asked Lindow.'

"Don't act like you don't know. We both know why you picked me to be on your team. This is just you trying to talk to me."

"Well, yeah. Just trying to make casual conversation. What's wrong with that?" Lindow waved his hand in the air as he gave a light chuckle.

"That's not what I'm talking about, and you know it! You just want to talk about her..."

"Her? Who's her?"

"..." Soma quietly growled.

"Oh! You must be talking about our sweet little captain. You know, I wasn't going to bring her up, but since you did, let's talk about her. So..." Lindow turned his head to give the assault corporal a glance. "When you gonna talk to her?" Everything was going according to Lindow's plan.

"I told you to stop sticking your nose into my business, Lindow."

"Hey, hey, hey. I can't really do that now. I'm under obligation to keep an eye on ya."

"Obligation?" asked Soma.

"The sweet captain herself tasked me with being the one to look after you in her absence. Even when she's not around, she's still thinking about you."

"..." Soma sighed.

"You know, kid..." Lindow stopped in his tracks, turning to face Soma completely as a smirk graced his lips. "Sometimes it's better to just say the first thing that comes to mind instead of just over-thinking it. It's Yuki we're talking about here. Is there really anything to think about when it comes to her? Just be yourself and she won't care, because the only thing that matters to her is having you around. There's not a single person around that doesn't know that much."

Soma stared at Lindow with a small pout, before his gaze lowered to the dirt ground beneath him. "It's not... It's not that I don't know what to say, or how to say it. Well, it is... but there's more to it than just that."

Lindow tilted his head, raising an eyebrow. "Oh? Then what is it?"

"...Well." Soma hesitated for a moment, keeping his gaze fixed solely on the ground. "It's just so hard to face her after what happened... After making her cry..."

"You made her cry? She sort of told me what happened, but she didn't bring up that bit." Lindow said, becoming more and more interested in where this was going. He was actually pretty surprised that Soma was opening up to him this way. Maybe all he really needed was a push.

"That Aragami that we faced had me all messed up in the head. It spewed some sort of mist that took control of my mind and emotions. I suddenly felt an uncontrollable hatred towards everything, and strong sense of blood lust welling up inside of me. My body started moving on its own and before I knew the two of us were fighting. Though, it was mostly me doing the fighting; she was just trying to avoid hurting me. And then..." Soma lifted his God Arc, staring at it with narrowed eyes. "I eventually found myself pressing my blade down against hers, pushing her further and further down. I was so close to finishing her off, but then..." A sigh sounded from the assault corporal as he lowered his God Arc. "She started to cry... and told me she was scared. Between that moment and when my blade finally made contact with her, I regained control. Seeing her suffer that way broke the illusion of hatred and blood lust that had consumed my mind. I just felt like shit after that..."

"And that's why you can't face her, huh? I guess it makes sense... Seeing your happy princess so scared and weak. I'd be all messed up after that too," said Lindow, chuckling as he resumed walking.

"S-Shut up! Stop calling her my princess! She's my..." Soma hesitated as he slowly followed behind Lindow, looking down at the ground.

"Your?~"

"...Get out of my business already! We have a mission to do!" said Soma.

Lindow found himself laughing at the younger God Eater as he held his free hand against his face. "All right. I'll leave you alone, but just for now."

"Tch..." Soma's eyes narrowed into yet another glare as his gaze shifted to the side.

Lindow and Soma walked in silence for a moment, both listening cautiously for the sounds of potential nearby Aragami in the vincity. Soon enough they were alerted by the sounds of vicious growling from all sides, prompting them to stop in their tracks.

"Looks we got company..." said Lindow, cautiously taking a look at his surroundings to gauge the enemy location. A number Vajratails had taken position inside of crumbling brick houses on both sides, and were staring intently and inching ever closer to the two.

"Looks like we're surrounded. I'll take this side," said Soma as he readied his buster blade and focused his attention on the Vajratails on the left of him.

"Then I guess I'll take these suckers," said Lindow as he calmly turned to the Aragami on his right side, pointing his long blade at them. "Come and get it, bastards!"

* * *

"And that takes care of that," said Sakuya, resting her sniper gun back on her shoulder as she looked over the blood-stained carcasses of the Vajratails she and her team had made quick work of. The medic corporal took a quick survey of their surroundings to decide where they would investigate next. Her attention turned to the ruined building that lied at a higher state of elevation than the most of the other structures. Based on the what little she could make out of design, it appeared to be a mansion.

"We'll be heading there next." Sakuya pointed to the area in question, looking over at Alisa and Kota. "Let's move. Stay sharp, you guys."

"Roger," Alisa and Kota said in unison, and began to follow behind Sakuya as they made their way to the point of interest.

Upon reaching the place, the trio passed through collapsed steel gate at the front of the establishment and made their through the courtyard. There wasn't a single Aragami in sight as they reached the top of the hill where the destroyed mansion stood. Being this close allowed Sakuya the opportunity to see everything in a much clearer way. The condition of the building was simply deplorable.

At first glance, one wouldn't be able to tell it was a mansion at all. As it was now, it was nothing more than a heavily ruined assortment of weathered grey bricks. Not a shred of its former glory remained. The entire upper half of the building was gone and barely any of the structure rose higher than twenty feet at best. There were no windows, no doors, or anything to even imply that it was house other than the gate and remnants of furniture visible from the outside.

"The Aragami really did a number on this place, huh?" Kota said.

"And just think... this used to be someone's home. It's kind of sad when you think about it..." said Alisa.

"That's the world we live in now..." Sakuya sighed and began to enter the desolate domicile with Alisa and Kota following close behind. "Let's split up and search around here. You two look around down here, I'll head to the upper level. If you find anything, let me know."

Sakuya made her way straight for the partially demolished stone staircase and began to carefully tread up. After reaching the top, she began to walk along the outer edge of what was left of the abode. The mansion was so badly ruined that none of the upper level remained aside from a small walkway. The only thing that could be seen above on both the upper and lower levels was the sky. Being at the highest point of elevation, she could see nearly the entirety of the town.

"This could be good for a little scouting," said Sakuya as she prepared her sniper and began to look through the scope, scanning the entire outlying area for any signs of the target.

For a while, she didn't really see anything interesting or out of the ordinary. Eventually Lindow and Soma had entered her line of sight, causing her to smile. "Lindow..." she said to herself before turning her attention elsewhere. Her gaze shifted roughly five kilometers northwest of the duo towards a wide open area behind one of the other mansions in the town. It was then that she saw what could only be considered the designated target, and it seemed to be resting. Sakuya wasted no time in quickly alerting everyone over the radio of her discovery.

"Everyone, I think I've found the target. It's roughly five kilometers northwest of the Lindow and Soma's location behind the ruins of an old red-brick mansion. It's a tiger-like creature with crimson eyes, light blue fur, and violet cape around its neck. From what I can tell, its front and back legs have a hardened padding which likely means that those spots will be the hardest to damage. The tail, however, is heavily exposed. It seems to be resting, so we can probably sneak up on it."

"Good going, Sakuya. We're heading there now. Let's group up at the front of the mansion and plan our next move." said Lindow.

"Roger that." Sakuya looked down to the lower level at Alisa and Kota who were standing near the center, looking up at her. "We're moving, guys. Let's go!"

* * *

Within a few minutes, entire squadron managed to meet in front of the old mansion which stood between them and the target Aragami. With all the fighters present, Lindow began with the debriefing of his plan.

"We don't really have much to go on with this thing other than it's a Vajra-like Aragami. At the very most, we can assume that it moves in a similar fashion. Y'know, just like all these kinds of monsters. Anything other than that is completely unknown. We're just gonna have to wing it and go with the flow. Here's the plan: Sakuya, Alisa, and Kota will handle the overwatch while me and Soma here handle the frontal assault. We can't risk us all rushing in there all casually when we don't even fully understand the enemy. We'll fight smart, watch, learn, and adapt. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah..." said Soma with a slight wave of his hand.

"Leave it to us! We'll slow that thing down so you guys can do what you do best!" Kota said.

"I'll do my best." said Alisa with a firm nod.

"Understood. We'll surround the enemy to widen our attack radius and limit its movements while you two rush in," said Sakuya, turning her head to the highest point of the mansion and pointing. "I'll position myself there and snipe from above. Kota and Alisa can stay on the ground with you and flank the enemy on both sides. Meanwhile, you and Soma will be free to advance and attack. Sound good?"

"Sounds perfect, baby!~" Lindow said with a grin. "You guys ready to make this happen? Let's get in position and rock 'n roll!"

Receiving a nod of understanding from each of his teammates, Lindow began to enter inside the ruined mansion. Due to the horrible condition of it all, the trip was more or less a straight shot to the other side.

With Soma, Kota, and Alisa following behind him, the quartet of God Eaters soon reached the destination, taking cover behind the walls crumbling walls of the building as they looked out into the open space where Clio resided. It was almost time for them to start.

"Sakuya, you in position?" asked Lindow over the radio.

"Yeah. I'm ready when you are, Lindow." Sakuya said.

Looking over at the remaining three participants, Lindow nodded his head. "Let's do this."

Without a word more each of them rushed in all at once to initiate the assault.

Alisa and Kota readied their assault guns, bombarding the Aragami with a barrage of bullets as they ran in opposite directions to cover both of its right and left sides. Needless to say, this caused Clio jolt up immediately in light of being attacked as it roared viciously.

The Aragami's attention went straight to Kota as it prepared to lunge straight at him in retaliation. However, it was temporarily stunned by a bullet fired from Sakuya which was aimed straight for its head, cracking the oracle bond cells that bounded its protective head piece.

Clio's temporary state of distraction was taken advantage of by Soma and Lindow who both began their own attack. Soma followed up on Sakuya's strike. He leaped into the air with his buster blade raised high and swinging it down on its head as he descended, completely shattering the oracle bond that formed its protective head piece. Lindow made his way straight for the torso, thrusting his long blade into its side and drawing blood.

The Aragami snarled in pain, jerking its body away from them and flipping backwards into the air to put some distance between them. As it landed on the ground, the violet cape around its neck began to stand up while glowing a bright indigo color. Numerous lightning orbs formed around the Aragami, blasting off in random directions and overwhelming the squadron with its sheer numbers.

Each of them - with the exception of Sakuya who was safely placed in an elevated area - began to to act evasively in order to avoid being hit by its counterattack. As Lindow moved to avoid the balls of electricity, he quickly began to advance towards Clio with his long blade readied for another attack.

Naturally the Aragami had no intention of letting Lindow do as he pleased and released yet another snarl as it prepared to pounce on the approaching male. However, much to its misfortune, it was staggered yet again from another shot made by Sakuya in the distance. Taking his chance with the opening made for him by Sakuya, Lindow leaped over Clio and sliced down on its tail, destroying the oracle bonds and cutting it clean off with a single swing.

"How 'bout that?!" Lindow said, chuckling as he landed behind the beast.

If Clio wasn't mad before, it was certainly pissed off now. In retaliation to having yet another part of itself destroyed, Clio began to act more rampantly than before. It began to violently thrash about, leaping and pouncing down in seemingly random directions while generating electrical fields wherever it landed. For some reason it seemed a bit faster. In light of this new development, the team was forced to take evasive action for yet a second time.

"I think that thing is pissed off with us," said Soma, strangely calm despite what was going on.

"It's becoming unpredictable now. How are we supposed to fight this thing?" asked Alisa as she did her best to try to properly line up a shot.

"How are we supposed to get close to this thing is a better question!" Kota said.

"Don't worry! We got this! There's always an opening. We just have to find it!" Lindow's eyes carefully followed the target, trying to find the opening he so optimistically spoke of. Unfortunately, it wasn't going too well. The most plausible time to strike would be in between pounces. In other words: while it was in the air. However, the timing between when in jumped and landed was far too fast to even think about trying that, and the gunners could barely line up a shot.

Clio soon set it sights on Sakuya who had been completely safe on top of the mansion's roof for the duration of the fight. Perhaps it had finally acknowledged her presence as a threat, because it suddenly began to make its way for her while completely ignoring the rest of them. The Aragami leaped extremely high into the air, landing on the lowest point of elevation on the roof and rapidly making its way towards the black-haired sniper.

"That's not good!" said Sakuya, quickly standing up with her God Arc in hand as she moved off the roof by slipping through an opening on its surface and landing inside on a giant hump of rubble. The opening was big enough for her to make it inside, but small enough to make sure Clio couldn't follow behind. She was safe for the moment.

The Aragami could do no more than growl in displeasure as it furiously bashed its paw into the decrepit roof, trying to make an opening for itself. By doing that, it left itself wide open for an attack.

"That's it! The opening! Fire!" Lindow said.

Alisa and Kota wasted no time quickly following up with yet another barrage of bullets towards the beast, causing its attention to rivet away from its pursuit on Sakuya, and back to them instead. Another growl sounded from the monster as it bared its fangs and lunged off the roof towards its attackers.

"Cover your eyes! I'm going for it!" Kota reached into his pocket and grabbed a stun grenade, throwing it at the descending creature and causing bright flash of light to emit. The Aragami was immediately stunned and its body crashed into the ground, leaving it open for another clean assault.

"Alisa, Soma, Let's end this before it can recover!" said Lindow.

The three of them began to dash towards Clio with their blades ready to deliver the finishing blow. However, their advance came to abrupt halt the moment their ears were consumed by a loud, high-pitched scream nearby. The sound alone was enough to stop them all in their tracks and have them all look around to pinpoint the source.

"What the hell was that?" Soma said, eyes narrowed as they quickly scanned the surrounding area.

"It sounded like someone screaming, but..." Alisa eyes darted around as well. "I don't see anything..."

"Yeah... It just came outta nowhere," said Lindow as he gazed around as well before looking back at Clio which had been awfully quiet and still during their search. "And what's wrong with this thing?"

As those words left his mouth, Clio's body turned into a violet mist and slowly began to float away into the sky. At that same time, Sakuya ran out of the mansion with a sense of urgency on her face.

"Over there!" said Sakuya, pointing over to the old clock tower in the distance. Everyone's attention turned to where she pointed, and it was then that they could see a figure standing atop of the structure with the violet mist heading straight for it. From what they could all see, the mist seemed to be entering the figure's body as if it were assimilating.

"Did the screaming come from...that?" Kota asked.

"Yeah. I think so. It's pretty hard to see from here, but the moment I heard th scream I looked around through the scope of my gun and saw that. It looks like a the humanoid part of a Venus with traits of a Sariel as well. I've never seen anything like it before," Sakuya said,

Soma's face immediately scrunched up in anger when he heard this. "A Venus...and a Sariel..." His grip around his God Arc had tightened greatly as if he were trying to suppress his urge to do something. "Lindow. What are your orders?" he asked.

"Orders, huh? Good question. We came here to slay Clio, but..." Lindow scratched the back of his head. "Honestly, I don't know. Let's just see what happens. If it runs, it runs. If it stays, we fight."

"Are you sure that's what you want to do? This thing obviously has something to do with Muse!" Alisa said.

"I know, I know. But we're not really in a position where we can do much. Do you really think that we can make it all the way over there in time? Even if we do, look at how high up it is."

"But Lindow...!" Alisa was ready to argue, but then sighed in defeat." I guess your right..."

"So that's it, huh? We just wait for it to do whatever? Talk about anti-climatic," said Kota as he hung his head.

In the midst of their banter, the figure in question began to fly away from the scene. The squadron could do nothing more than watch as it moved further and further away until it could no longer be seen.

"Tch..." Soma closed his eyes, lifting his sword and placing it on his shoulder. "We'll get our chance to face it again... and when we do, I'll destroy it."

"You'll destroy it? Soma, did you forget that we're a team?" Alisa asked the assault corporal, looking at him with narrowed eyes.

"Hmph..." Soma began to walk away without even giving a proper reply.

Once a certain amount of distance was put between Soma and the rest of the group, Lindow spoke up. "That's the Aragami he and the captain faced a while back..."

Kota's eyes widened as stared at Lindow. "Wait, what?! Are you for real?"

"I see. It makes sense that he would react that way, then. He feels like he has a score to settle." Sakuya said.

"A score to settle... Well that just means he might end up acting recklessly if we don't watch him." said Alisa.

"I know, I know. That's why we need all the players back in this game, if you know what I mean." Lindow sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair.

There wasn't a single person there that didn't understand what he was saying. Each of them exchanged glances before looking back at Lindow and nodding.

* * *

 **The Den**

"Tch..." Soma stared at the door to Sakaki's lab. Here he was yet again in a mental debate on whether he should finally talk to his captain again. How long had it been since they had last spoken? He wasn't really keeping track of the time passed, but he assumed it had to have been a few weeks by now. What would he say to her? It was kind of hard to just casually speak to her as if he hadn't been going out of his way to avoid making contact.

"Don't think... just act..." Soma said to himself. Like Lindow has said, when it came to Yuki there was really nothing to think about. She'd be happy just to see him. Hell, he'd probably wouldn't need to say anything at all. His presence would be enough. Yuki had tendency for being incredibly simple at times. Thinking about it that way, he suddenly felt a lot more confident about knocking on the door.

Slowly his hand began to knock on the door. While he couldn't fully escape the feeling of uncertainty, he had already set things in motion. Now all he could do was wait to see what was going to happen.

"Come on in!~" said Yuki from the other side.

A soft sigh escaped past Soma's lips as they curved into a small smile. The sound of her voice which had been completely absent from his life for the past few weeks filled him with a sense of joy and satisfaction. Having received the go-ahead from Yuki, Soma quickly straightened his face and opened the door. The assault corporal hesitantly entered the room. Once inside he could see Yuki sitting down at the desk, smiling at him as if the situation wasn't awkward in the slightest.

"Uh..." Soma wanted to say something, but he just couldn't find the words.

"Oh, so you stopped being a Mr. Grumpy Pants? I'm so happy you're talking to me again. You know, I would have totally waited forever for you if I had to. Get over here and let me hug you, nerd!" said Yuki as she quickly rose from her chair and ran over to Soma, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"Hmph... Whatever," said Soma, looking away to avoid making eye contact with her.

"Whaddya mean 'whatever', Soma? I missed you a lot you know! I mean, I knew you'd say something to me eventually, but all that waiting was terrible for my heart, man!"

"...I'm sorry," Soma mumbled as he slowly wrapped his arms around her, returning her hug while still avoiding her gaze.

"It's okay! I love you too much to actually be mad! I'm just happy to see you!" Yuki pulled away from the hug, patting Soma on the head.

The word love made a light shade of red formed on Soma's cheeks as he looked at Yuki from the corner of his eye. "I'm happy to see you too..." he said quietly.

"You know since you've gone so long without speaking to me, I suggest you do any two things I ask of you.~"

"Any two things? Eh..." Soma was a bit skeptical. Knowing her she would probably ask for something unreasonable. Then again, he did feel bad about avoiding her for so long. This was the least he could to make it up to her. "Fine..." he reluctantly agreed.

Her eyes lit up the second she heard his agreement. "Really?! Yay! Okay, okay, okay! So like, the first thing I want is to give you a massage!"

"A...massage? Why?" asked Soma, tilting his head.

"Don't question it! I just wanna give you a massage. Not now, but maybe sometime later."

"Uh...okay?" Soma couldn't help but think about how weird of a request that was because it seemed like it benefited him more than her. "And what's the second thing?"

"Well... I kind of want this now. The second thing is..." Yuki looked away from Soma in almost shy manner while wearing a soft smile.

"Is...?" said Soma, extremely curious about what she wanted from him.

"The second this is... something I will tell you later."

"But you said you wanted it now..."

"Not literally now. More like tonight."

"Tonight?" Soma said questioningly as he raised an eyebrow. The fact that she gave a specific time of day only served to fuel his curiosity.

"Mhm. Just so you know, I won't take no for an answer either.~" Yuki smiled and winked.

"...Now I really wanna know what this second thing is."

"In due time, Soma. Now shifting the topic away from me. Let's talk about you. You obviously have something you wanted to say to me, right?"

"Uh... Well..." Soma's eyes immediately shifted off to the side. "I do...but I just..."

"Don't know how to say it?" Yuki said.

Soma sighed and slowly nodded his head. "Sort of..."

"Oh. Well no worries. You'll have all the time you need to tell me during that second thing I want! Let's just hold off on it until then, okay? Hehehe!~"

Soma quietly stared at Yuki, seriously questioning in his mind about what the second thing was. Based on what she said about not taking no for an answer, he could only imagine it would be something he would fervently object to. She also seemed to be extremely excited for whatever this thing was. He really hoped it wasn't something weird or unreasonable.

"You still haven't actually told me what the second thing is..." Soma said.

"Fine, fine, fine! I'll tell you since you're so curious," said Yuki as she waved a hand in front of her while looking away. "The second thing is..."

And then words he had almost never expected to hear left her mouth. She made it seem like it was the most normal request ever. Every part of Soma just wanted to say no, but he knew Yuki wouldn't leave him alone until he agreed. He decided it would better to just go with it. Had it been any other girl or person in general, he would have dismissed the idea altogether. But because it was her, it was kind of okay even though it was both weird and incredibly awkward.


End file.
